1967 Corvette Driveshaft

[Timothy B.]

I removed the driveshaft from my 67 and want to glassbead and clean. My question is about the u-joints as they are original and seem to be fine moving them around. Has anyone ever had any luck removing these and re-using, the rubber dust caps seem to have a metal backing and are tight on the trunion of the u-joint.

Paint marks on the driveshaft are toward the rear with a orange ring and sort of olive green ring then there is what looks a forest green daub at the rear end of the shaft where it meets the yoke portion so I need to locate the blue on the rear axle yoke. I guess Testers paint from a hobbie store will be ok.

Any advice is appreciated, my main concern is trying to re-use the original u-joints. Tim

[Bill H.]

Re: 1967 Corvette Driveshaft

I really doubt you'll be able to remove the u-joints without screwing them up. I certainly couldn't on mine.

The marks on my 67 were also towards the rear.

[David L.]

Re: 1967 Corvette Driveshaft

Tim,

Do your original U-joints have the letter "A" on one side and the Chevrolet bow tie inside an oval on the other side like the U-joint shown in the link below?

Dave

http://www.nastyz28.com/forum/showthread.php?t=156458&highlight=original+u+joints

[Ray G.]

Re: 1967 Corvette Driveshaft

Hello Dave;
Your documentation is very impressive.
Thanks.
Ray

[Joe L.]

Re: 1967 Corvette Driveshaft

I removed the driveshaft from my 67 and want to glassbead and clean. My question is about the u-joints as they are original and seem to be fine moving them around. Has anyone ever had any luck removing these and re-using, the rubber dust caps seem to have a metal backing and are tight on the trunion of the u-joint.

Paint marks on the driveshaft are toward the rear with a orange ring and sort of olive green ring then there is what looks a forest green daub at the rear end of the shaft where it meets the yoke portion so I need to locate the blue on the rear axle yoke. I guess Testers paint from a hobbie store will be ok.

Any advice is appreciated, my main concern is trying to re-use the original u-joints. Tim

Tim-----


I would not even consider reusing these u-joints if they're the ones originally installed on the car. First of all, I doubt very much that they are actually in reusable condition. Remove the bearing caps and inspect the bearing surfaces on the trunnions. If there is the slightest damage on any one of the four, the u-joints are not fit for re-use. Then, clean and inspect the needle bearings. Any damage to any one means that needle bearing is not fit for re-use (and, these bearings are not available separately. Last, clean and inspect the bearing caps. If there is any damage to the bearing surfaces, the caps are not fit for re-use (and, these are not available separately, either).

[Timothy B.]

Re: 1967 Corvette Driveshaft

Thanks everyone for your comments, I will report back with pictures of the u-joints showing the trunion markings. These joints are the non greaseable type and if I replace them that's exactly what I will use.

The clips look like there are rusted so I will need to glassbead just to remove them and the rust so the cap can be pressed out. In a previous post it is suggested to use the FM #269 non greasable u-joint as it's the same as the GM joints.

I understand exactly whay you are saying, Joe, these parts are 45 years old but I wanted to see what others have done in this situation.

[Alan D.]

Re: 1967 Corvette Driveshaft

Tim, two things to consider - show v drive.
I have an original setup with u-joints & shaft for show ONLY. Trying to get a few more points however would not use for every day use so agree with Joe.
Have not see the "A" or circle bow tie before especially on a corvette joint.
Pay attention to the u joint clips used, most replacements are configured differently.

As for cleaning - note there exists a fine longitudinal line which is darker (perhaps 1/16" wide) on original shafts so you will need to reproduce that. The shaft shown here had a very large area of the dark line so left it that way, but its the only one I have seen as such. If you look at the standard tube stock in a machine shop the dark line can be found on their stock.
Normally the circle colors will be on the other end of the rear end mark, but again the one shown has all marks at one end, have seen a few of these but not normal.

[Darin P.]

Re: 1967 Corvette Driveshaft

I am doing a body off on my 67 BB. I am new to this & just starting my research so bear with my ignorance plz. How do you tell which end is which if you already have the yoke off & didn't think to mark it? Also mine is so rusted I will have to sand blast it. Will this remove the dark line that you have pictured? Should I use some other media than silica sand? Are the markings the same on an F41?
Thanx for any help.

[Alan D.]

Re: 1967 Corvette Driveshaft

Take a close look at end of shaft (by weld) to determine if any left over paint can be seen, that's the rear end side. If found mark it with a punch (one dot) If some left over rings are seen - assume that's the transmission end (as noted in the post that's not always true). If concerned about any vibrations you could always get balanced at a shop.

The dark mark along the tube will be gone when you clean (bead, sand, whatever you desire) Bet its now gone just due to rust and age. The finish product is not shinny!
Don't get carried away with this part since most judges can not slide under that far to even see it. On my 64 its worth 5/5 and that's for drive & half shafts - so spend time on the half shafts

[Darin P.]

Re: 1967 Corvette Driveshaft

Thanx Alan, I will take a closer look tonight. I took this car apart 12 years ago & had to store all the parts in a barn due to financal concerns so everthing is pretty badly rusted. PS.... Sorry for hijacking the thread.

[Michael H.]

Re: 1967 Corvette Driveshaft

I removed the driveshaft from my 67 and want to glassbead and clean. My question is about the u-joints as they are original and seem to be fine moving them around. Has anyone ever had any luck removing these and re-using, the rubber dust caps seem to have a metal backing and are tight on the trunion of the u-joint.

Paint marks on the driveshaft are toward the rear with a orange ring and sort of olive green ring then there is what looks a forest green daub at the rear end of the shaft where it meets the yoke portion so I need to locate the blue on the rear axle yoke. I guess Testers paint from a hobbie store will be ok.

Any advice is appreciated, my main concern is trying to re-use the original u-joints. Tim

Timothy,

As a side note, if you haven't already done so, it may be a good idea to make some sort of permanent mark on the rear flange of the drive shaft where the paint stripe is. This stripe is for balance and used to align the drive shaft to the differential pinion flange.
When new, there would have been a paint stripe on the drive shaft and another on the differential flange. The paint stripes are to be aligned. One is the heavy side of one component and the other is the light side of the other component.
These "heavy/light sides are intended to cancel the imbalance of each.

If you can no longer see any paint marks on the diff pinion flange, then the above won't matter.

[Michael W.]

Re: 1967 Corvette Driveshaft

Note that the drive shaft and u joints are worth a whopping 5 points total for originality in judging. It's very difficult for a judge to clearly see both u-joints so I wouldn't think twice about replacing them.

[Timothy B.]

Re: 1967 Corvette Driveshaft

Thanks again everyone for the comments.

David, the u-joints I removed today look exactly like Alan's pictures, there is nothing I can see in the trunions like a bowtie or "A", I can post some pics but they are exactly like Alan's.

The joints came out without to much difficulty but like Joe stated above the bearing surfaces on the trunions have marks from the needle bearings so I don't want to re-use them. Can anyone tell me the difference between a F/M Precision #329 and the 269 U-joint. I want to get the right joint without jerk fitting. The driveshaft has some good pitting also so I may look for one at the Carlisle show in a few weeks.

Mike, I marked the driveshaft where the green daub is and I think I can see the blue on the pinion flange so I may be good here.

[David L.]

Re: 1967 Corvette Driveshaft

David, the u-joints I removed today look exactly like Alan's pictures, there is nothing I can see in the trunions like a bowtie or "A", I can post some pics but they are exactly like Alan's.

Tim,

I can see a Chevrolet bowtie along with a casting number ("3811922" on one and "3707063" on the other as best as I can tell) on each of the U-joints (around the perimeter) in Alan's photos. The U-joint in the link in my previous post with the Chevrolet bowtie in the oval and the letter "A" is from a 70 Z28 (March 1970) and obviously a later version.

Dave

[Rob M.]

Re: 1967 Corvette Driveshaft

Michael,

I have a new drive shaft purchased from LIC. They state that the drive shaft is balanced and ready to bolt on (no indication of which side would be the heavy/light side). Does it matter? or just bolt it on and go?

Sorry to jump in the thread.