When I first got to the yard I thought I struck gold. They had, literally, just moments before set this 1977 Grand Prix in place, so all the parts were still there. I have read that all Pontiacs from 1977 on had the larger, 5x5 bold pattern wheels. I was excited to find some cheap Rallye II wheels. After I got three off I decided to measure them to make sure and unfortunately found that they were the 4 3/4", small bolt pattern. The one short drive we took in The Clam revealed that April really doesn't like the way the shoulder harness buckles. Because it doesn't retract you have to tighten it across your chest and it holds you firmly against the seat. She says it rubs her neck and makes her feel trapped. This car had roof mounted, retracting seat belts. I got one of them almost all the way out before I realized the lap portion of the belt had been cut. Another bust.
After leaving the yard without finding a suitable driveshaft I still continued on to the driveshaft shop. Some of the research I had done suggested that the yoke I got from the '89 truck a while back was not correct for my 700R4. The splines would not push all the way in. When I got to the shop I asked the guy there about the yoke and found that there is a lot of misinformation about yokes and there are several different lengths. After talking to him for a while I came home to do some more research. After making some measurements and doing some more research I found that along with different lengths there are also different style yokes. A couple of differences being that the splines do not go all the way to the end of the shaft on the inside of the shaft and the rear of the yoke having a vent or weep hole to relieve pressure. This type of yoke uses an O-ring to seal against the shaft. After finding this out I realized I did not have the correct yoke for my application. After pricing different options I found that having my driveshaft lengthened would be the most cost effective course of action. Notice the vent hole in my first yoke.
The next day I returned to Pull-A-Part to find the right yoke. I had done some research the night before and had an idea of what size to look for. I ended up finding a 1994 Cadillac Fleetwood Brougham with a 5.7. This car was massive. I wish I had a picture of it, it was the last of the real cars that GM ever built and it was a real beauty. Because my shifter linkage was missing a few parts I ended up getting the linkage from the Cadillac after I noticed they were similar. I grabbed a few more parts that I had on my list-o-parts which I had forgotten the day before in my overheated stupor and came home so I could take the yoke off the driveshaft I had to buy to get the yoke and then put the new yoke in the transmission and take the measurements. After getting the measurements I took the new yoke and my old driveshaft to the transmission shop. Once there he explained to me that my old driveshaft could not be used. Luckily, he had an old, used driveshaft that was exactly 7/8" longer than what I needed so I was able to buy that from him. It was a Ford driveshaft so he used the special U-joints that have different sized caps on each side. He called the next day and already had it finished so I went to pick it up.
I always like to try to support local shops. This shop, Clinard's Driveshaft Shop, has been in business since 1962. The owner took the time to explain some things to me and help me understand some things I needed to know. As you can see in the picture the location is very near the heart of downtown Nashville.
Here the difference between the two yokes.
The guy at the driveshaft shop explained to me that the clips shown here need to be turned toward the pinion instead of the strap. That is how they are meant to be held in and centered. This picture actually shows them backwards but I turned them this way to make the gap in the clips able to be seen.
The new-to-me driveshaftshaft
The new yoke fit exactly right
As it turned out the linkage was so similar I didn't need to modify anything. I just took the parts I needed from the Cadillac and changed them over to the Pontiac linkage. I also grabbed the bolt that holds the shifter plate to the side of the transmission because the new stud is metric rather than standard.
After finishing those up I attached the transmission lines which turned out to not only reach the new fittings in the transmission, they were the same thread size, so all I had to do was bend them a little and they screwed right in. Then I moved on to attaching the TV cable to the transmission. After feeling the hole I found it hard to believe that it would fit. I tried a little but stopped because I didn't want to damage anything. I called the tech line for the company I ordered it from and told the tech how difficult it was to get it installed and said I didn't think it would fit. I was told that was normal. I tried again and managed to get it very close to fitting but it seemed almost impossible to get fully seated. At this time a massive thunderstorm moved in and it began pouring rain. I stayed under the car for a while but eventually water began to run underneath so I had to come in. When I got in I started doing some research on the internet about the topic and found a video that explained that the TV cable comes with a grommet and a newly rebuilt transmission will also have a grommet already installed, so it is necessary to remove the grommet from the TV cable. I knew that I had left the cable outside and it was still stuck in an awkward shape because I had pulled it up very snug with the bolt that holds it in place. I had to go out in the rain and fix the problem to ensure that the new grommet wasn't damaged. After doing this the cable fit exactly as it should.
This is the grommet I removed from the end of the new TV cable. I was basically trying to cram two of these into each other.
Here is how the TV cable should look when fully seated into the port on the transmission.
While I was at Pull-A-Part I found a 1994 Lincoln Mark VIII. From what I have researched these cars have one of the best electric fans available today. They are fairly expensive if you buy them online so I grabbed this one from the '94 Mark that I found and it only cost 20 or so dollars. I will eventually install it in The Clam which should cool better as well as keep the engine from having to turn the fan which should free up a mile per gallon or two.
Since I have been concentrating solely on the mechanical issues I came up with a way of keeping the water from damaging the interior. The weatherstripping I have installed so far keeps the leaks down to two specific spots. On the passenger side the tub is angled to drain the water into the spare tire well, where I have removed the drain plug so it runs out immediately. On the right, with April's permission, I borrowed one of her pots which I empty every so often as it rains.
