Projects New Project: 1953 Oldsmobile

That’s my best guess for now. I haven’t gotten it apart yet. Would the yoke have to
Be replaced or can it be machined?


Also, another possible point of screw up. This is the ujoint I purchased last time, and the same one I have coming to me again. What are the pieces I have circled? I assumed they were shims, but I didn’t see a useful place for them to go.



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they go on the with the bolts then bend the tabs over to secure the nuts from moving

 

On the driveshaft? Makes sense, get everything cleaned up, look for a cracked ear too. See if the cups rotate freely in the bores.

 

The yoke on the pinion, or the pinion flange.

 

I’ve got a theory and some questions:



Check out this zoom in (still haven’t had time to get under the car, just looking at pictures).

The top left bolt likes like that may be where it started to break. Could I have just tightened it too much and cracked it there? I’m not sure what the torque should be on it. I may have been over eager to tighten it because I ruined the last joint by losing a bolt.

Also, if you look at the top right, there’s a thin metal bar that connects the two butterfly ends. Is that bar supposed to be cut off after the driveshaft is connected? I left it on.

If it turns out my yoke is bent, can those be machined down or do I have to replace it?


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I doubt you could break it by over tightening it if the pinion flange is not bent.

 

I had the same style of U-joints in my 48 Pontiac. Ran one dry on a road trip...was in Springfield, Illlinois and couldn't find one at any auto parts store. This guy recommended going to a farm implement dealer. Thought he was crazy but I was desperate. Turns out that joint is used in many farm implements! They had a whole bunch of 'em and cost me 12 bucks! Never had another problem with it.
BTW, I put one of those [like yours] flanges on a 56 Pontiac thirdmember and kept the more common U-bolt style flange. I believe it takes a standard 1310 spicer U-joint. It's yours if you want it. PPM me your address if you think it'll do you some good and I'll ship it to you.
Also......not sure what rear gear ratio a 53 Olds has but it shares rear axle design with Pontiacs of the same years. The Pontiacs/Olds of 55-56 came standard [automatic cars] with either 3.23 or 3.08 ratio. I always replaced the late 40s thirdmember with one from a 55-56 car. Brings the RPMs down to a more manageable level while driving on our modern 60-75 MPH highways. Might help with your high speed heating problems and will certainly help with gas mileage...jus sayin.
The photo is my early thirdmember like yours with the more modern 1956 flange [some guys call them a yoke] on it. The one in the photo is the left-over I have if you want it. Personally, I'd stay with what I have but it's just an option

 

Well shit again.

I love this Olds, but it may be time to find a new daily since this is breaking weekly.


The u joint did in fact take out the yoke. There’s no telling where I’ll find a replacement.





This is what I get for pre registering for Pistons & Paint. There’s no way I’ll find replacement parts in time.

Oh well. Time to start hitting up parts stores.


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Maaaaan.... the car gods have it in for me right now.

I ordered a new u joint a week ago, the company sent me an oil seal. Huge help. NOT.

I ordered new bushing from Summit. They sent me the wrong ones. Another huge help. NOT.

Decided to drive out to Summit because I can’t wait on shipping. They’re supposed to have the bushings and Ujoint. Well, they had the bushings, not the joint. I get home to replace the bushings and I cross thread a nut. Awesome.

Driveline shop says my yoke is no longer available and no one else has it either. On the bright side, they said it wasn’t THAT bad...

I finally figure out why the ujoint blew up. Spicer’s catalog says it should come with medium duty end caps, but it came with light duty instead, so that’s why they broke.

I call up spicer, they don’t sell one with medium duty caps anymore, they won’t warranty the u joint, and they won’t sell me just the caps. Screw those guys.


So now, I’m hoping my spare unjoint shows up in time. Fortunately, I kept the old medium duty ends, so I’ll throw those on instead. I still have to try and repair my yoke and hope for the best.

Looks like I need to start shopping for a new rear end. Anyone have any recommendations on what cars to pull one from?


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Unless you are beating the tar out of the driveline, what you had should have held up. Something was amiss there, incompatible parts or something else. Maybe a new rear and 'shaft is a good option, unless you can find a yoke at a salvage yard. Do you know for sure what the existing rear is from?

 

I keep thinking the same thing, but the way it broke also makes it look as though it was too weak. I also keep coming back to the fact that there was no shudder until I bottomed out a few days prior to it breaking.

I was told it’s a 52 Olds rear. I haven’t confirmed that.


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try these guys?? worth a call maybe
https://www.dennysdriveshaft.com/c99_pinion_yokes.html

 

If it started to shudder after bottoming out then failed a few days later i would make sure there is no binding of the driveline when the suspension cycles. I don't remember whats in the car for an engine and transmission,
possibly the driveline is bottoming int he transmission causing the problems at the back?
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And you may be able to source one from someone over on the AACA Olds forum. Those fellas have been helpful in the past. Might be worth a post over there.

 

Good lord. What a friggin week.

*in my best dramatic announcer voice*
“Last time on Scott’s-Car-Is-A-POS!”

Anyway, Wednesday ended with me finding out my spare u joint I had ordered was coming to me in the mail as the wrong thing again. The company I ordered from had changed stock numbers, so several of their orders had been messed up. I called up Summit and there way way they could get me the right u joint before Friday evening. By the end of Wednesday I had given up. There was no way I’d make the car show.

I got a call from the driveline shop Thursday morning. It went something like this:

“Hey Scott, we’ve got your driveshaft balanced and ready. Want us to put in a u joint too?”

“Wait, you told me you didn’t have one for it?”

“Yeah, we didn’t the other day. We got one in yesterday.”

“Holy ****, yes please! Throw that thing in there!”

I picked it up, went straight home, and spent the evening putting the car back together. The test drive was sorta on the way to work the next morning... not smart, but successful nonetheless.

I didn’t highway test drive it till this morning on my way to Denton from Waco. And I’ll be damned, the car made it. I’m at the show now. The car didn’t have any issues on the way here.


Something could still go wrong on the way home, but that’s what AAA is for!


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you get 10 attaboys for seeing it thru. Glad it all worked out.

 

I was surprised when I saw you made it, congrats!

 

Holy ship... good going. Gotta stick with these problems in order to solve them.

 

Saw the car saturday, glad you were able to sort it out.

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So, did you make it home after the show?

 

Thanks! That’s a great shot. Too bad I didn’t have time to clean the car before I left... haha


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That depends on how you looks at it... I ended up chasing an issue that didn’t exist. I blame it on being tired and having little reason to trust my car.


Couldn’t find anything wrong. Car cruised home just fine.


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Thanks for coming to PNP

 

Nothing currently wrong. Just wanted to post without complaining for once. Haha





Also while I’m here, headlamps are cheap. Replaced both for $24. Much brighter now.



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It takes time to trust a car once it has sucker punched you a few times. I was around 19 with a '64 Ford... a money pit and I was learning as I was fixing things on it. Just a long succession of broken things, brake job, bleeding it and the master goes, 2 generators and 2 regulators AND a battery in a week, plus dinged the radiator putting it together for the last round.

 

Hey all. Believe it or not, nothing has broken for 2 months. So now it’s time for me to start fixing some other stuff.

Oh, that mechanical fan I put in? Holy crap. It’s awesome, but it blows dirt and junk all over the engine. Finally took the time to clean it up yesterday. Simple green is a wonderful thing.



So, I need to get the front suspension fixed up. I’ve been putting it off because I really want to bag the car, but it’s just not going to be in the budget any time soon.

If you haven’t been able to tell by the photos, someone before me cut the front springs. I love the low look, but the springs were cut differently so the car sits crooked. Also, it’s within an inch of the damn bump stops. Looks cool, rides awful. Plus whoever cut the springs welded bars between some of the coils to make up for the crookedness on one side.

I have a 70’s nova front clip, so this is the setup I think I’ll go with. Any input?

(I’m literally buying lowering springs to lift a car, how messed up is that?)



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It will be way cheaper and faster to just rebuild the stock front end you have already.

 

absolutely beautiful car! we have a 53 olds 4 door model 98 for sale right now with just over 60k original miles, i love these cars. yours is way cooler than ours! olds was so far ahead of the curve! 12 volt neg electric systems power steering, ohv engines, way cool

 

My wote is to restore the stock frontend to.
After all it have been there for 65 years and wich
frontend holds better then that?

 

Nova clip is a lot of work and could turn into a proverbial can of worms blowing your budget to crap. I would look for a set of Moog replacement coils that fit and allow a bit of lower attitude without great compromise. The catalog gives all the specs on their replacement coils. Have you looked into dropped spindles? and using stock coils?