Putting the motor in a 1955 Buick Special, and I cannot get the torque tube to engage into the back of the trans? Any tips here? I have the rear jacked up so it's on a level plane with the transmission, but the splines just won't cooperate.
It's been 49 years since I replaced the clutch in a '55 Buick; the memory may not be what I think it is..... If I remember correctly, the universal joint stays with the transmission - your problem may be getting the universal splines aligned with those in the torque-tube drives shaft by 'musceling' the engine into position Undo the shocks and the sway bar on the rear, let the rear 'hang' on the springs then pull the rear towards the back of the car far enough to set the engine on its mounts. Now you and only have to work with the torque-tube which should be easier to manipulate. Get the splines lined up (turn the wheels to rotate the shaft) slowly let the whole rear ***embly move forward. I figured it out as a 19 year old kid......
automatic or standard trans? just pulled the motor in my 55 it had a dynaflo, are you going back with original transmission?
I replaced a clutch in a 53 chevy did it the same way the DAVE DOWNS is describing and had no problems
Yeah that's how I was doing it, the splines just refuse to go in. The car was manual, and we are putting a dynaflow in it.
We always engaged the torque tube by rolling the rear wheels forward. How can you maneuver the toque tube if its jacked up?
To get everything to line up what I have done is jack up the rear put stands under the frame and use ratchet straps to pull the rear end back to where it is supposed to be then have someone turn the rear wheels while I line up the torque tube and tail shaft by hand. That way you don't have to undo anything. Ive done this twice (once by myself) and it worked great both times. Hope that helps some, Ryland
Make sure you have the weight on the back axle before you do the final tightening on the torque tube bolts (per the Buick shop manual).
Are you using guide pins? this will certainly help. According to my 56 manual, it says: "Carefully move axle ***embly into place, guiding propeller shaft and torque tube into proper alignment with torque tube ball using two 3" guide pins to avoid damage to propeller shaft seal. Rotate rear wheel to line up propeller shaft and universal joint splines". I used this method a few years back, doing the job by myself and had no problem that I recall. Check for any spline damage otherwise it should be reasonably h***le free. Ross <!-- / message --><!-- attachments -->
Look again at the splines ... you'll probably find a blind spline that has to be aligned in exactly the right place.
302GMC is right, there is one spline that is wider than the rest or what is called a "Blind Spline". I am currently working on my own 55 with a manual trans and also built one about 10 years ago with an automatic and this was the case both times. Also, if you have been trying to force the torque tube on you may have knicked up the splines a little. Take a close look and if you find any burrs clean them up with a file or some emery cloth. Best of luck!
Just bumped back to this thread after a week. We tried it again with no luck. I"m going to look for the blind spline tonight. We ended up pulling the motor back out a few inches with still no luck. Will update after I work on it this evening.
As stated by 3spd and 56buickboy these are the right ideas. I made my guide pins using 3 inch bolts same thread size cut the heads off -rounded the edges- line the splines if you look at torque tube drive shaft male end and look at transmission female end you will see the marks that need to be inline and as stated look in the service manual in the rear axel section for our 1957 manual it is section 6-6 if you do not have a manual go to team buick site,go to referance scroll down to library they dont have a 56 but look at 57 it is the same procedure and you can access the manual online. I used these procedure when working on ours and had no issues. Good Luck!
We got it in last night. There must have been rust on the splines. We used bolts to make dowel pins, and then used progressively longer to smaller bolts to draw it on. Also, neither the trans or the torque tube had any unique splines, we checked it over.
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