VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1937-1945 Loose drive shaft

Hay guys I need some help.

I have a 40 Special DeLuxe 4-Door Sedan. On the front of the propeller shaft there is a sleeve that screwes to tighten where it connects to the back of the transmission. I have been checking for a transmission leak and after about 250 miles this sleeve is so loose I can turn it by hand. I use channel locks and tighten it up each time and in a couple of months it is loose again. What should I do to keep this tight and is there a seal I should check here also?

Sorry guys I hope I use the right terminology. Thanks for your help.

To tighten the packing nut I use a pipe wrench to prevent the U joint ball from turning and another pipe wrench for the packing nut. I have never had one loosen.
If it leaking (when the nut is tight) you will probably need to replace the packing. This requires splitting the U joint. If it were mine I would just split the packing and slip it in place. The tightening of the nut will squeeze it back together. The newer packings are made from a vert hard cork/rubber material. It usually takes several "tightenings" to get it compressed enough to stop leaking. The originals were made from a rubberized kind of felt.

I find a couple of chain wrenches work a lot better than pipe wrenches and allow a very good grip without scratching or distorting as much as pipe wrenches.

Just my 2¢ !

I haven't done one for a while but if I remember correctly thats what I did . I used the pipe wrench to keep the ball/housing from turning and a chain wrench for the packing nut.

I always grabbed the tail end of the ball with my strong strong hand (I usually used my right) and I have a curved pair of vise grips that, when opened wide enough, would fit nicely around the end collar enough of the way to grab the collar. Then I used my left hand on the end of the vise grip (to give it enough leverage to match the enormous strength of my right hand, and tightened. In spite of my enormous strength, it always leaked (no matter how many times I spied under at it, I always saw that nasty drop of 90 W oil hanging on the end of the ball and collar. I eventually decided I must do something more creative like suggested above!!
Mike

For about 25 years I fought this problem on my 37 Chevrolet pickup. I finally made a small bracket that spans the distance between the collar on the tail of the ball, which is tightened to hold the gasket tight on the ball, and the front end of drive shaft tube. I used two radiator clamps to hold that bracket on the collar and the tube. Ever since, it has stayed tight and never leaks. I also use a rubber "O" ring that is oil resistant as a gasket. I have a size that fits perfectly on that end of the drive shaft and fits snugly in the collar. I tighten it tight and apply both clamps tightly. It works.
Joe

Heck! I was always told that the leak was necessary to vent the transmission and there fore you should not tighten the collar with any thing but your hand!

Thats a new one for me....see no reason to vent the transmission and most are automatically vented.

Gerry -
You never got much of an answer to your question. If you want to email me, I can show what I did to stop the same exact problem you are having. I will tell you that it is not "original" or "factory" in any way, but it stopped the problem.
Joe - 6cylindersovertex@att.net

Sorry Gene, but that was supposed to be a display of humor.

I kinda thought that....like its not a Chevrolet if it dosen't have an oil leak.

Well Guys, thanks for all the feed back. I have been out of town for a couple of weeks. I am now home and ready to go to work on my loose drive shaft my problem. Thanks for all the suggestions!

Gerry