Thanks for your thoughts and I have read numerous ways on reinstalling the pinion and still puzzled. Others have mentioned super glueing the oil slinger to the rear single roller bearing and standing the torque tube vertical and letting gravity help to locate the locking ring on the front bearing while you slide the propeller shaft into the carrier. I hope to find a better solution.
I currently have not removed the differential housing and torque tube from the rear end and hope to avoid this. The torque tube design had been used by Chevrolet from the 1930's to 1950's and I cannot imagine every time the propeller shaft was removed it required such a process to reinstall.
When I pulled my propeller shaft and found the spacer that held the oil slinger and locking ring in place during assembly I thought this was a good solution.
I have taken a closer look at the spacer and it looks to be a hillbilly trick to get this keep everything in place during installation. I believe that someone cut a piece of heater hose and slid this in place to hold everything. it appears to be 1 3/8" long and 2" inside diameter. The giveaway was a couple pieces of string reinforcement inbedded in the hose and the outside of the hose has a pattern
What do you know? These backyard mechanic used any thing they could find to make it work. Maybe I will do the same thing and give it a try? I will need to cut the 2" hose and glue it back together as it will not fit over the bearings.
Last edited by rustedtreasures; 01/13/20228:07 PM.
