I have been having a wonderful time working on my 31 Special that had been sitting outside for the past 40 yrs. Hoping to have a driver some day, it now exists as a rolling chassis perched upon 3ft iron horses in my garage where I have pecked away piece by piece for the past year. I can't begin to describe how wonderful it feels to now hear the sound of it run once again after all these years. Many thanks to the best Chevy forum and especially Chipper who patiently provided valuable info when needed. Chevy chatter is the best!

As I work may way down the drive train the rear pass wheel has a good wobble to it. After inspecting the wheel and pulling the rear drum it appears to be a bent axle and a bad seal from the amount of oil that has leaked onto the brake and drum assembly. The brake shoes are covered with oil but there is very little wear. Is it appropriate to consider a solution to remove the oil and reinstall the shoes?? Are there any safety concerns?
Regarding the bent axle, I have a couple of used and one new oem spare shaft. New tempered chrome molloy shafts from FS and others are available. My plan is to have a driver. Should I be concerned about using oem axles under normal driving conditions?
Your thoughts are appreciated.

You can use the new axle from the Filling Station and you will be fine.

Regarding the excessive oil leakage, the bent axle caused some of it since your inner and outer seals are probably shot, and so is the driveshaft bushing seal as well. You should replace all of the above. And, while you are in there, due to the bent axle, you might want to check the alignment of your rear axle housing, and it wouldn't hurt to check the alignment of the torque tube either.

Don't reuse the old brake linings due to the impregnation of the oil on the linings. Do the job correctly and install new brake linings.

As to the possible wear of the seals, it also can be another reason for that. If the cone on the axle is not tight with the brake drum, this will result in a "loose" wheel, even if the nut is properly fastened and locked. In such a case you need to put some thin sheet metal(flattened tin can) around the coned axle to make a tight connection.

When I get a oil leakage on the brake linings (which are of modern, soft type), they are put into a heated oven (for porcelain) in one hour/300 degrees and damped. After cleaning the brake system and changing the seals there are no problems with my brakes, and no need for renewing the linings.

Thank you for the help. I should have time next week to pull the axle. I know I have new brake linings, axles and new outer retainers with the felt seal. I'm not sure that I have the inner seals. If I have to pruchase any new seals are the newer neopreneme replacements from FS and others more reliable?

I will also have to purchase the driveshaft bushing seal. Do I need a special tool to remove the old seal?

I didn't see any obvious reference in my repair manual for alignment of the rear axle housing and the torque tube. Where may I find the information?

Thanks,
Robert

The information on aligning the torque tube and the rear axle housing appeared in the G&D back in the late 1980's as I remember. Since you are a member you can access the old articles that Billy Boy Barker has posted on the VCCA web site. The articles are in the Members Services section of the VCCA web site.

With all of the new parts that you have it sounds like you are going to do the rear axle restoration correctly. Cool!

No special tools are needed to remove the driveshaft bushing. Just a drift pin and hammer are all that is needed after you remove the dowel pin that holds the driveshaft bushing in place.

Yes, you can use the new type of inner seals from the Filling Station, or you can use a double sealed axle bearing on each axle shaft. The double sealed bearings serve the same purpose as the inner seal.

Good luck with your project and if you have any other questions come back here.

The temperature (300 degrees) is not Fahrenheit but Celcius. Sorry about that difference, folks.

I managed to remove the old axle assembly last week. It looks like the axle replacement will be a success. However I haven't been able to locate the information on aligning the torque tube and the rear axle housing. I was able to access the G&D articles posted by Bill Barker who really does a great job. I tried using the search option and scanned many articles that I thought may contain the info.... but no luck. Does anyone recall the title or author of the article(s)?

Also I am unable to access areas restricted to membership such as member photos or member's projects. I think it would be very helpful to be able to view other ongoing restoration projects. It would be appreciated if Bill or Chipper or whoever is authorized could allow member access.

As always there is nothing like VCCA membership, help and support. Thank you!

You should have access now.

The torque tube alignment article is in the December '84 Generator and Distributor.

The article was on page 28.

Top or bottom of the page?

I now have access to member's photos! Thank you Chipper!
I'm also feeling a little foolish about now. I'm still unable to locate the Dec. 84 G&D when I access the articles. The earliest edition is Jan. 1961, then 4 pages of history from Jan 83 followed by Dec. 85. I see no pages available for 84. Am I looking in the wrong place???? Or do I fill out a request form for the Dec 84 edition?? Help!!

If you go to this page
http://vcca.org/G&D/GDArticlesOnline.html
you'll see a "map" showing the months that have been scanned and indexed.

There's about seven of us who are doing this on a volunteer basis. We just finally got it going good at the end of last year. Now we're all on "spring break".

I've found the article and it'll be included in the next batch of articles that are scanned and indexed to the database.

Hi Bill,

I may not have been paying attention. Do you have, or have access to, ALL of the prior G&Ds?

I can be of help as I have all of them.

Thank you Bill. I'll be looking for it.