Art & Inspiration When to take the first Long trip?

Almost any truck repair place can do it for you, too. Gary

 

You don't need the original driveshaft...unless you're a purist...!!! A driveshaft can be made up for you so don't sweat trying to find another...I had a driveshaft made for my '55 here in Denver...total cost: $200 including new u-joints...all you need are measurments and you've already got that since you have your old shaft...

R-

 

You guys are gonna love this....

I took it to a friends house tonight with a better working knowledge of driveshafts and u joints (my first experience with u joints). We take some sockets and his vice and press out both u joints.

In BOTH of the u joints some of the needle bearings that line the cap wall had fallen to the base of the cap. They hammered it so much they broke one of the needle bearings.

This is what blocked the cap from seating and not allowing the c clip to snap in.... Which is why the guy thought the yolk was bent.

Mind you this guy had a new bentley, aston martin, and multiple new bmw's and mercedes in his shop.

Unbelievable. We seated everything and ill install the driveshaft tomorrow and hope they didnt throw it out of balance.

Thank you for all your help.

 

That caddy wouldnt happen to be a black one with a big hole in the front windshield right?

Theres one I always see on my way to Albemarle.

 

Is there also a 69 Caddy sitting with it? IF so,that would be him. He would take scrap value for both. The 69 should have the 472.

Anyway, congratulations on getting your problem resolved. Now enjoy your car.

 

Well, you got it done and learned that there is no mystery to doing u-joints.

 

The one Im talking about is at this place that has old tractors and cars, gas signs and stuff. Its in a town called red cross and is on the corner of NC-24 and NC-205 (albemarle rd and oak ridge rd). Across the street from red cross baptist church.

Really cool place but always closed and no trespassing signs up.

 

Id love to see the early 50's cad your friend has one day. Do you know the year or model?

 

This car is off Thompson Rd in Mint Hill. The one you saw sounds like it is East of Midland.

 

Call me crazy but I need to get a grease gun to grease these new u joints before i re-install it and Im not terribly far - I'll take a quick cruise down that road and see if I can spot it!

 

The mystery is how people manage to do them wrong.

 

I was lucky to have learned it right in high school shop class.

 

Didnt see any caddies on thompson. I imagine they must be off in a shed somewhere.

Nico sure enjoyed looking for it!

Got a grease gun and Im about to get this driveshaft back where it belongs....out of the living room

 

I've just about finished up my coupe and I'm right there with ya. I work about an hour from my house and I built the car to be a daily driver, but I still haven't had it in me to drive her to work. Maybe a couple more trips to the store and back...... then we will take her on a trip!!!! Good luck with the drive shafts and the rest of the shake downs!!!

 

Yeah? I'll raise you a Muncie on the kitchen counter...

 

Haha I like it!

So I greased it up, bolted it up, fired it up, warmed it up and my trans dipstick read nothing. Took 2 quarts to even register on the dipstick so Im going to go get some more. Running dex VI in this and since then she's become drippy long stockings.

 

Ooooffff.. I see a resealing in your future. My left nut still aches from the last cast iron hydro I removed & replaced...

 

How hard is that to do? I have zero experience. I was also wondering if maybe dexron 3 would leak LESS than 6. As far as I know - 6 is synthetic.

Took 2 and a half to top it off.

Took her for a spin up to about 40mph and everything checks out - other than the occasional hiccup that Ive been
Having while steady cruising. I can see a little rust in the gas bowl before the carb - i think that high rpm highway trip sucked some rust through my fuel filter.

 

Sorry to hear your trip didn't end up well- good thing about Thanksgiving is lots of leftovers- and you didn't get hurt or wreck your car ( or someone elses). Good luck with it- this too shall pass. Mike from Mass.

 

The oil probably ran out the back of the trans when the driveshaft was out. They will do that. Check your oil from time to time, be sure to do it when the trans is hot to get a true reading. It is surprising how much lower the level is when cold.

Hope you didn't fill it to the full mark cold.

 

I personally wouldn't use synthetic trans fluid.

 

Yeah i filled it hot no worries...i may go back to dex 3

 

You didn't mention checking/changing differential oil. Check that,,this advice comes from experience of hearing a nasty noise in the rear end first time out on the highway with a old vehicle.

 

The condition of the u-joint trunnion journals looks shiny and greasy, which is a good start.
I wonder if the previous joint installer got a needle trapped, so he could not seat the cap and install the clip, which meant the cap has been slowly working its way to freedom for the last decade or so. Experienced, interested eyes would likely have seen a cap like that prairie-dogged above the yoke.

checking fluid levels, u-joint condition ( and missing clips), exhaust system soundness, and at some level suspension and brake wheel bearing condition were all part of the 3000 mile chassis service in the previous century.

Nowadays lots of us sit in the car, wheel in a death grip, and hope to buy vehicle reliability with the biggest monthly payment we can't afford. And then out-of-warrantee repairs are entrusted to techs, some with skill and experience levels the same as your first u-joint installer

 

Good call, Jazz1, I forgot about that one and it bit me on my Plymouth. The shop that did the rear end brackets got just a little impatient torching the old ones off, the left one wasn't quite all the way free, so I'm guessing he picked up a hammer and gave it a good whack to knock it loose (can't really fault them for that, I probably would have done the same thing). Unfortunately, it was still stuck a little better than it looked, it took a chunk out of the axle tube as well. I do fault them for this part, because apparently they decided it was fine and left it fly. Fast forward 15,000 miles and three trips from San Diego to Utah, and I'm happily motoring down the freeway and the rear end starts raising hell! Turns out there's a 1/16" hole in the center of this crater, and it's been slowly but surely losing lube for a long time! Took a little over 2 quarts to fill it back up, so that sucker musta been pretty empty! Bearings all survived, but the gears whine pretty loud now. The hole is almost exactly on top of the axle tube, so apparently it only leaked at speed, cause I never noticed any spots in the driveway or anything. Just built a new third member for it, wanted to try a little lower gear in it anyway. Lesson learned!

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Yes I have yet to check it, but its covered in grease/oil thats leaked so I know it could use help.

If I wanted to drain it do I have to yank the whole front of it off or can I open the fill plug and just keep pumping in new fluid? Im guessing not

 

An article in Hemmings said this - "From 1950-'52, the standard final drive ratio was 3.36:1;".
Supposedly the 53s got a 3:07 ratio according to the same article. probably worth checking your ratio, which can be done with the diff assembled.
http://www.hemmings.com/hcc/stories/2008/10/01/hmn_feature22.html

Seems like that would be a little rev-vy compared to today's cars geared for 27 or more mph per 1000 engine revs.

No experience, but I'd kind of expect a Caddy to be a relatively quiet car at 65 mph

If a non stock fan is used, or if there are holes in the firewall then engine noise could be more noticeable