DD shaft wont fit through firewall bearing

[rcotner]

The DD shaft is too wide to fit through the bearing. Has anyone else had this problem? Does it need to be ground to fit?

[michael everson]

Most I have assembled were pretty tight. Start by filing all the burrs off the end of the DD shaft.
Mike

[rcotner]

Will do. Thanks for the quick reply!

[rcotner]

Managed to get the linkage together. A fair amount of griding and lots of punding with my dead blow hammer.

[wallace18]

These shafts will rust down the road. Best to paint or treat it now than later. Ask me how I know. Lol.

[68GT500MAN]

They are a tight fit, just make sure the parts are square to each other.
Doug

[Tim Whittaker]

This would be the perfect time to put one of those cool billet covers on the firewall bearing !!! :)

[erlihemi]

OK, I just ran into this and am a little confused. I thought these DD shafts were nickel plated, but they appear stainless after doing a little "work" on them. So anyhow I got the micrometer out and found some ends are slightly distorted which leads me to think these may be sheared vice cut shafts. Shearing creates more distortion. Anyway I had to decide my direction of assembly and "draw" file the last 2" that would insert in the bearing and be clamped by the U-joint. Its possible to warm the bearing and slide the shaft into the bearing, but, then its very difficult to disassemble later. Draw filing by hand worked for me and allowed better assembly sequence. You should only need to do the ends of two shafts. The U joints aren't as tightly tolerance as the bearing. Since I didn't file off the "shine" it won't look bad.