# Pulling engine and dropping driveshaft



## Josh.AZ.GTO (Jul 11, 2009)

I'm at the point where I'm pulling the old 350 (separate from trans) and dropping the drive shaft. 

To remove the drive shaft you remove the 4 bolts to drop the shaft in the rear and it should slide out of the front? Is this correct?

I have one bolt removed from the flywheel, a second that is being difficult ( i just backed off for now), and there is how many more in there? Is it best to lift the rear and put the car in neutral and turn the drive shaft to access the other fly wheel bolts.

What is the best method(s) for doing these tasks? 

Thank you.


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## Eric Animal (Oct 28, 2007)

Josh, 1st) Make sure the car is secure. Then: Remove the 4 nuts fron the rear U bolts on the drive shaft. Push the drive shaft towards the tranny about an inch. Tape the caps on the rear U joint so they don't fall off. Next, put a bucket under the rear of the tranny, then slide the drive shaft out.
YES, to disconnect the tranny from the flexplate (flywheel) you will need to turn the engine (by the crank bolt at the front) until you acsess and remove all the convertor to flexplate bolts....then remove the tranny to engine bolts (bell housing). Support the tranny and give it a sharp pull back...it should pop loose....take it easy on the front shaft so you don't ruin it. Tape a Paper cup over the tail of the tranny so you don't get fluid all over..... ALSO, dont forget to remove the shift cable, and cooling lines first...........Eric


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## Josh.AZ.GTO (Jul 11, 2009)

Do you happen to know what size that bolt is ... On the crank .... Off hand? It's bigger than my largest socket. 


Sent from my Autoguide iPhone app


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## Matthew (Feb 11, 2011)

Would also recommend marking drive shaft to differential and flywheel to torque converter connections so you get them back together the same spot they came apart. Matt


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## Koppster (Jul 27, 2008)

If you're talking about the harmonic balancer bolt, it is 15/16 and if it was torqued right, it's on there at 160 ft lbs so lift some weights. :cheers


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

If you don't have a 15/16 socket, you may be able to reach into the starter area with a big screwdriver against the flexplate teeth prying against the block and turn the engine over that way.


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## Josh.AZ.GTO (Jul 11, 2009)

Matthew said:


> Would also recommend marking drive shaft to differential and flywheel to torque converter connections so you get them back together the same spot they came apart. Matt



I will make sure I do that. Thank you.


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## Josh.AZ.GTO (Jul 11, 2009)

Well I fiddle with it for about an hour and couldn't get it to loosen up (drive shaft at rear axle). Took the four bolts out and gave it a few swift whacks. Nothing! Not even sure why they put bolts in there in the first place :lol:. What am I doing wrong? Does it have to be under a certain load for it to free up? Any suggestions?

Also, couldn't turn the crank with the socket and didn't have a beefy enough screw driver to wedge in there and pry the flywheel around. Maybe I don't have enough leverage with the 15/16 socket. Need to hit the gym perhaps. The motor was a running motor when parked about 8 months ago. 

On another note in neutral when I spin the driveshaft both wheels turn. Does this mean posi?


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## Matthew (Feb 11, 2011)

Recommend a small breaker bar between the u-joint and the differential. You are trying to unseat the two bearing caps the retainer bolts were holding in place. The drive shaft will go further into the transmission tail housing when doing this. Try not to beat on those two caps. Also, don't let the caps come off while unseating the u-joint. It will come out. As Mr Eric said, run tape around the u-joint to hold the caps on. Matt


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

Bigger hammer, bigger braker bar, and yes, posi.


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Also if you remove the spark plugs so you're not working against compression, the engine should be much easier to turn over by hand. Ditto on the breaker bar. A length of pipe over the end of the ratchet can work. If you've removed all 4 nuts from the u-bolts on the rear u-joint, you should be able to just tap the u-bolts out. Stick a long flat screwdriver or flat-bladed pry bar between the yoke on the rear end and the u-jount cross and pry the cross towards the front of the car. If it still won't move, something ain't right and you're probably going to have to replace the joint anyway, so do whatever it takes to move it.

Once you separate the trans from the engine, there will be nothing supporting either the front of the trans or the rear of the engine so be ready with 'something' to hold them up, like a couple of hydraulic bottle jacks. In fact, using the jacks to supply a little upward pressure on both to take the load off the big dowel pins can make splitting them easier.

Bear


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## 69Goatee (Aug 14, 2009)

Did anyone look closely at his picture? It looks like a truck CV u-joint setup with a flange mount. If all of the bolts are out, you can smack it on the edge where the flanges meet with a BFH and they should come apart.


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

69Goatee said:


> Did anyone look closely at his picture? It looks like a truck CV u-joint setup with a flange mount. If all of the bolts are out, you can smack it on the edge where the flanges meet with a BFH and they should come apart.


Duh! Well strip my gears and call me shiftless.  I did just assume and I didn't look at the photo --- my bad  Yeah, whack it sideways with a hammer at the joint where you took the bolts out. That's most definitely not "original"....

Sorry...

Bear


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## Josh.AZ.GTO (Jul 11, 2009)

It's out!!!! ..... I purchased a flex plate wrench today at NAPA. However that bent and was rendered useless. So I went back to the 15/16 socket and breaker bar .... which I got finally to turn the flex plate and giving me access to the 3 bolts. Pictures below. 

I plan on getting that drive shaft off and transmission removed next. I'm finding more and more surprises as I go. I guess that's just part of the game in doing these restorations. 

The frame appears to be welded (not factory) where the rear coil spring sandwiches between the frame and body. The passenger side looks neat and clean and the drivers side seems to have a lot of slag... :confused. Would be a shame if I have to scrap the frame ... aside from that... its a southwest rust free frame. Once I get body and frame separated ... I'll probably have a chassis/frame shop evaluate it for me. 

I am kinda disappointed its not going to be the original drive shaft. I guess I'm more concerned about the rear end now.... it was a 12 bolt from the factory, it has 12 bolts on the outside, but its what is on the count on the inside that tells all correct?

All and all I'm just glad to making some progress on the car.


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## 69Goatee (Aug 14, 2009)

I showed the picture of the rearend and drive shaft to a friend who builds 4x4's. He said that is a double u-joint high angle cv made for the front driveshaft of a 4x4. The flange usually bolts to the front of the transfer case. He also said it will vibrate like crazy when installed on a rearend like that!! You need to get a factory style pinion yoke, and a new driveshaft.


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## Josh.AZ.GTO (Jul 11, 2009)

69Goatee said:


> I showed the picture of the rearend and drive shaft to a friend who builds 4x4's. He said that is a double u-joint high angle cv made for the front driveshaft of a 4x4. The flange usually bolts to the front of the transfer case. He also said it will vibrate like crazy when installed on a rearend like that!! You need to get a factory style pinion yoke, and a new driveshaft.


69Goatee, 
Thank you (and your friend) for the input. I'll be hunting for a new drive shaft and pinion yoke in the near future.


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## Eric Animal (Oct 28, 2007)

On the subject of drive shafts....I called Strange Engineering yesterday about one for my car. No problem, call when ready, they will make exactly what I need....you might want to try them. Eric


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## Rukee (Feb 8, 2007)

Wonder how that conversation went.....Yeah, I have a gazillion HP and need a driveshaft.


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## Josh.AZ.GTO (Jul 11, 2009)

Rukee said:


> Wonder how that conversation went.....Yeah, I have a gazillion HP and need a driveshaft.


:agree :lol: :cheers


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## Josh.AZ.GTO (Jul 11, 2009)

I decided to break down my 350 and this is what I have found. Looking down on the crank I found the part # 97954 .... is this a crank from a 400?? After doing a quick google search it appears it may be from a 70' 400. 

The cam has # 537 and right below it the # 441. Any ideas what kind of cam this is??

Here are a few pictures of the motor.


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## BearGFR (Aug 25, 2008)

Both the 350 and the 400 have the same stroke length of 3.750, so probably Pontiac used the same crank for both engines.

Bear


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