My first classic car, a 1964 cadillac sedan deville, with 427 V8, turbo hydra-matic transmission that takes only 2 quarts of ATF, original green paint and white top (rough condition, but may be saveable), a fully intact interior except the worn front seat, and a driveshaft that was disconnected 40 years ago before it was left in a barn, and could not be re-attached to the rear differential flange without dropping the axle, because what I assume is a rear slip-yoke is stuck in its fully extended position. The driveshaft is in 2 sections with a normal U-joint in the front, and Double U-joints in the middle, just after the frame-mounted center bearing, and the back. In the middle of the rear section, a a smaller tube goes into the larger tube, sealed with what looks like a rubber gasket. I think that it might break lose when I lower the car (axel re-installed), but am worried about what else might break in the process... Will lowering the car with the driveshaft connected break anything?

 

Sounds like a question for a Cadillac Restoration forum (no sarcasm).

It sounds like there are multiple factors involved that are probably best understood by those intimately familiar with the vehicle.

That's not to say that no one here can answer these types of questions. Maybe yes maybe no. You are certainly welcome to ask.

Pics??

 

Yes, pics.

 

Now THAT is what I call a land yacht. I don't know anything about Cadillacs as my Dad was a Mopar guy and I grew up working on the big Chrysler land yachts. The engineering was totally different from GM and my Dad DESPISED GM for some reason. He always said they were pieces of junk and GM stole a lot of ideas from other companies. IDK and don't care. Deep down, I'm still a Mopar man and can't help you with what I think is a very cool project.

 

Nice Caddy!!! I would seek advice from somebody that understands suspension geometry. I lowered my Crown Vic 1.5" and I discovered that it made alignment difficult because Ford never intended for those cars to be any lower than the factory height.

 

I remember my parent’s 65 and 68 Cadillacs. They had double u-joints like that at both ends. The pinion was pointed down like that and my father explained that it was to let the tunnel be smaller. They emphasized interior room in those cars. We also had a 73 60 special Brougham, I was not very nice to that car, however it was the first turbo 400 I overhauled. The 65 was a Coupe de Ville because my little sister and I were pretty young. The 68 was a Sedan de Ville, first year for the 472 and it was 11 to 1 and was a premium fuel car. I learned how to drive in that car, it had drum brakes all around. I asked my father why he did not order the disc brake option, his response was that when Cadillac was satisfied with disc brakes they would be standard equipment. We flew to Detroit and toured the factory and drove each car home. When we got the 73 we drove to Disneyworld, It was new and there was a Disneyland in the center. We were from LA so I had been to Disneyland many times, That is where the E-ticket ride saying came from. Only two E-tickets came in the ticket book, they were for the best rides!

 

I did manage to get the drive shaft in (I think)... by completely removing the rear axel. In the process, one of the brake hoses snapped, Well.. I should flush the brakes anyway... The shop manual only says it takes "SAE approved heavy-duty brake fluid", so is it DOT 3, or 4? The world may never know...

 

I would use DOT 3 in that car.

 

Update: I got the driveshaft on by removing the axel, but do not know if it works. Many of the gaskets have been leaking coolant, I had not been able to find replacement gaskets, and had been trying to use cork, and RTV, which was not working. Dad found out about this, and, of course, found gaskets on the internet in under 10 minutes. Those will take about a week to arrive. One of the leaks was in the radiator, the joint between the brass top tank, and the rest of the radiator. I can not seem to figure it out: Is it soldered on there? Is there a rubber gasket like on a plastic tank? Can this tiny, tiny leak be repaired without buying another radiator?

 

Old radiators were soldered together, no gaskets. The problem is when the radiator fails, the tubes leak where they attach to the headers. The tubes are soldered to the headers then the tanks are soldered to the headers. Old radiators used to plug up internally from poor cooling system maintenance or lack of any maintenance. I grew up in Southern California and people ran water instead of coolant. The cooling systems rusted from the inside and plugged up the radiator. The freeze plugs rusted through and leaked. I hope your Caddy is from antifreeze use areas, not LA.