Rusty Heaps Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 I’m trying to pull the engine and transmission out of my ‘52 Special and can’t seem to reach the top bolts on the torque ball so I can disconnect the U-joint. Short of cutting a hole in the floor, I don’t see any way to get them. I’m beginning to think it would be easier to swap bodies rather than engines. Which is a thought. You’ve Got to love the Chevrolet’s of the era, they had the transmission tunnel access panel ! How do you reach them? Or is a body swap easier? Same frame as near as I can tell , just a ‘53 Special donor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kartman01 Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 I removed the torque ball/propellor shaft/torque tube out of my 1950 Buick Estate Wagon, but I do not rmember there being any issue getting to all of the torque ball bolts... unleass there is a different set up between '50 and '52... Can you post some photos of what you are up against... hopfully I or someone on the forum will be able to help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted December 31, 2020 Share Posted December 31, 2020 Are you referring to the outer torque ball retainer or the bolts at the flange of the torque ball/driveshaft connection? If a 3/8 drive impact universal (9/16 socket) does not work, then disconnect the rear transmission support from the frame and drop it down a little. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted January 1, 2021 Share Posted January 1, 2021 11 hours ago, Rusty Heaps said: I’m trying to pull the engine and transmission out of my ‘52 Special and can’t seem to reach the top bolts on the torque ball so I can disconnect the U-joint. Short of cutting a hole in the floor, I don’t see any way to get them. I’m beginning to think it would be easier to swap bodies rather than engines. Which is a thought. You’ve Got to love the Chevrolet’s of the era, they had the transmission tunnel access panel ! How do you reach them? Or is a body swap easier? Same frame as near as I can tell , just a ‘53 Special donor. Are you doing this with the rear axle in place? If so you may find it advantageous to pull that back a little bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Heaps Posted January 4, 2021 Author Share Posted January 4, 2021 I’m referring to the outer torque ball retainer at the rear of the transmission. It appears that the floor pan is a little lower above this are on the ‘52 Special coupe than on the ‘53 Special 2dr sedan. It appears that it would be easier from a logistics standpoint to swap bodies rather than engines. But I’m left with the possibility that I will have to put a clutch in it anyway, so I may as well pull it apart and prepare for an education in the school of hard knocks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted January 4, 2021 Share Posted January 4, 2021 Can I ask for more detail on what was being attempted here? It sounds like the plan was to remove the engine and trans in one piece by disconnecting the tail end of the tranny without disconnecting the torque tube from the torque ball. Is that right? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Heaps Posted January 5, 2021 Author Share Posted January 5, 2021 Aha! After reading the ‘54 manual a friend has lent me, I see the error of my ways. I had assumed that the torque tube and ball assembly was like the Chevrolet, I now see that I should remove the rear flange and bolts, and roll the rear end back to accomplish the removal of the transmission and engine without undue complications. Whereas on Chevrolet one can simply pull the floor access panel and slide universal ball back and split U-joint. Hopefully I can now proceed to pull the offending parts without much trouble. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
60FlatTop Posted January 5, 2021 Share Posted January 5, 2021 51 minutes ago, Rusty Heaps said: Aha! After reading the ‘54 manual a friend has lent me, I see the error of my ways. Reading the book is not going to sit well with the old curmudgeons who speak in metaphors and colloquialisms about how they learned "their hard way". 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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