Well am a little further along but not sure any better off. I am trying to remove tranny and drive shaft since removing the tranny drain plug yeilded nothing but dust. i removed the shifter and the gears are dry but seem like the can be made operational. I am a little stuck on removing the driveshaft. I have the torque tube slid back and the 4 nuts removed from the universal retainer. There she sits....(i got called to supper) Is the next step to try and drop transmission in efforts to get the driveshaft out of the way? This in my limited deduction does not seem possible as it would seem the spline will prevent that movement. Looking for some advice

Thanks!

Now you need to separate the U-Joint and move the drive shaft out of the way

I was able to seperate the u joint. front side has slid into the torque tube and the back side moves around a bit but the driveshaft does not seem to want to move at all. That is what i was originally expecting. I will be at it again shortly to see what else I can learn.

Thank you for the response

Do you have a shop manual for your vehicle? If not, you really need to get one.

Your problem may be in the way you have the car supported. The back of the car should be supported by the frame so as to let the rear end hang down further and give you more room to work in lowering the torque tube so you can then work on removing the transmission.

Already have one on order. The trial and error method is long road
Thanks

Think I just lost my reply so sorry if this comes through twice. I have the rear end supported by the frame a few inches off of the ground. The torque tube seems to be retraced as far as possible. I have the universal nuts off and it looks like the driveshaft lacks clearing by about 3/16". I assume the three bolts at the base of the driveshaft near the rear end are for truing and alignmnet purposes.

Any thoughts are appreciated

Thanks

The three bolts on the back of the driveshaft are not for alignment. Do not remove them!

Before going any further, you might want to wait until you receive your shop manual.

The three screws with the lock nuts are to secure the retainer ring on the bearing. Do not touch.

If you will rotate the drive shaft slowly you should find a cut that will allow the U Joint to be lowered.

It is also possible that you have not retracted the U-Joint housing back as far as it will go. Insure you have all the paint and rust removed from the torque tube to allow the housing to come all the way back.

Thanks for the warning on the bolts. I will look at the notch in the next few days and will have the shop manuals by then.

Thanks again I will update as I make more progress

I just took my 31 to the frame.When i removed the bolts from the tranny,I removed the shackle bolts piece of cake on the rear.Had to drive the front bolts out.Installed nut back on bolds leaving 60 thou at a time and big hammer.Then rolled rear assy back.I did index the shaft to tranny.

Thanks for the info. I hope to pull the motor out this weekend. If there are and sneak steps to that other than the old conventional way I would love to hear. It does seem pretty straiaght forward.

I have received and been reading my service manual and the reference to certian "special tools" is an absolute trip especially when it says use this as there is no possible way a mechanics fingers will fit.

Anyhow thank you for the great tips. I hope to make good progress this weekend