#1  
Old 07-02-2022, 03:29 PM
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67drake 67drake is offline
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Default U joint question

Since I got this car awhile back it has always had a slight hum and mild vibration , seemingly from the back. It starts about 50 mph. Finally getting a little time today I jacked the rear of the car up and found slop in the u joint of the axle shaft. Probably a good 1/16! I assume this joint should be tight, just as a u joint on a driveshaft of a regular RWD vehicle, correct?

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71' GTO -original 400/4-speed/3.23 posi
13.95 @ 102.1 on street tires @ 4055lbs.

‘63 LeMans- ‘69 400 w/ original transaxle. 2.69 gears.
  #2  
Old 07-02-2022, 06:22 PM
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Radman Radman is offline
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Yes, it should be tight with no slop. If you are a Little Indian member, log into the web site and go the the Tech pages. One of our members made a list of the two universal joints to combine to get the correct fit from the transaxle to the shaft. They do not sell a direct replacement today.

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white 62 Tempest modified, 61 389 Tri-Power, and a conventional drive train.
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  #3  
Old 07-02-2022, 07:02 PM
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Awesome! Thanks for the reply. Yes I am a member over at the Little Indians site.
I figured there wasn’t supposed to be any, slop,but being new to the ‘63 type drive train I figured I’d just check.
Kinda good news though, as I know the car will ride a lot smoother down the road after I fix it.

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71' GTO -original 400/4-speed/3.23 posi
13.95 @ 102.1 on street tires @ 4055lbs.

‘63 LeMans- ‘69 400 w/ original transaxle. 2.69 gears.
  #4  
Old 07-03-2022, 11:36 AM
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Found it.
Looks like NAPA has the parts, and they are still available according to the website.

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71' GTO -original 400/4-speed/3.23 posi
13.95 @ 102.1 on street tires @ 4055lbs.

‘63 LeMans- ‘69 400 w/ original transaxle. 2.69 gears.
  #5  
Old 07-03-2022, 02:42 PM
MBLemans MBLemans is offline
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Default U-joints

This is from the little Indians forum:

"So, I could not find new replacements on the market. So, I spent some time at the auto parts counter and was able to purchase two different parts to make one that fits the Lemans...sort of.

Moog P/N 368 and 316. Fortunately, the bearing shafts are the same diameter and the seals work too. One had the correct width (almost) and the other the correct bearing cap diameter... 1.125".

So, swap out the smaller bearing caps with the larger and whala... it fits - almost... There is a side to side gap of about .05" per side maybe a schosh more... I decided to add .05" per side to ensure the yoke is centered. That required the bearing cap groove to be widened which I did on my lathe with an air grinder... Then I added two .025" think clips made from 1.062" spiral lock retaining rings. This worked but wow, I never expected to be spending this much effort of U joints!"

The last reply on this thread is:

"Hi, About 5 years ago Jack Mosley and I did a search for replacement U-joints for the 63 Tempest. We did an exhaustive review and the best match we found was UJ315G for the body and a UJ316 for the caps. Let me know if you had any questions."


Either way, let us know what you find out. I'll be replacing mine this year as well.

Thanks and good luck!

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Old 07-03-2022, 04:52 PM
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In the Little Indians tech articles, it lists the 315g and 316 as the replacement combo for the U-joint. It doesn’t say anything about modifying the snap ring groove.though. I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I get there.

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71' GTO -original 400/4-speed/3.23 posi
13.95 @ 102.1 on street tires @ 4055lbs.

‘63 LeMans- ‘69 400 w/ original transaxle. 2.69 gears.
  #7  
Old 07-03-2022, 05:12 PM
MBLemans MBLemans is offline
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Default U-joints

Yeah I copied the last (being the first one by ROBERT BENJEY ) and first (being the last one by JEROME WOJCIK) on the thread. I am curious as to what is going to work best.

I figured mine look original, so when I start taking things apart I'll replace mine as well.

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  #8  
Old 07-08-2022, 11:29 PM
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If anyone has done the u joint replacement before, a few questions. I have the ‘63 service manual, but not clear on this yet-
Is there a tool you can fabricate to take the yoke off of the axle? But then how to press it back on? I would think that the specialty tool they use in the manual would be hard to come by, correct?
Second question- I’m unclear on this one reading the manual. Does the yoke that is on the transaxle side simply pull out of the transaxle for ujoint replacement? Or am I missing something.
Thanks!

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71' GTO -original 400/4-speed/3.23 posi
13.95 @ 102.1 on street tires @ 4055lbs.

‘63 LeMans- ‘69 400 w/ original transaxle. 2.69 gears.
  #9  
Old 07-09-2022, 07:46 AM
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After thinking about it , I guess I don’t need to pull the axle for the ujoint replacement, so scratch that question.
I just want to make sure yoke slides out of transaxle itself. Anyone know?

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71' GTO -original 400/4-speed/3.23 posi
13.95 @ 102.1 on street tires @ 4055lbs.

‘63 LeMans- ‘69 400 w/ original transaxle. 2.69 gears.
  #10  
Old 07-09-2022, 09:37 AM
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Set out to buy the u joints this AM. Just for the heck of it I looked up the parts on Rock Auto. They list about 8 varieties for the LeMans. I thought I had to make this hybrid because replacements weren’t available? What gives?
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71' GTO -original 400/4-speed/3.23 posi
13.95 @ 102.1 on street tires @ 4055lbs.

‘63 LeMans- ‘69 400 w/ original transaxle. 2.69 gears.
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