So I spent the evening under the truck. The u-joint is split. I started the engine and watched the flywheel spin. Things seems basically ok. It being spring I would like to get the truck rolling again, so I will order an okie bushing and puller now but drive it as is till I get the gumption for okie installation.
But I have a few new questions. Now that the torque tube is free I still can't see how I will be able to work on the free end of the torque tube. With the engine and tranny in place the torque tube can only be lifted up. There is a crossmember on the frame that hinders dropping the torque tube down. I can't imagine that installing the new bushing will be so simple.
The other question is about the new motor mounts. Just now the mounting plate under the tranny is removed, so the motor rests on the front and rear engine block mounts. I had to jack up the engine and tranny to be able to remove the rear tranny mounting plate. Now with the plate removed and the other mounts tightened (because I started the engine) there is not much room for the rear tranny plate. The tranny seems to sit much lower than the plate would like, and I can only imagine that with the plate in place there is a lot of strange tension on the two lower bolts holding the ball joint and the plate in place. It would seem to me that the rear motor mounts ought to lift the motor more, or that the rubber on the rear tranny mount ought to be thinner.
Also it seems the motor isn't quite in the same place the old 216 was. With the same transmission the clutch linkage runs into the shifting linkage in one of the gears, not sure which right now.
I miss my cracked 216.
