Is there a source for the rubber flex boot for the intermediate shaft? Mine is torn to shreds and I'd like to swap on something to keep the joint protected. I don't care if it's not the original style. I was thinking something like the flex boot from a shock might work but it's going to be too large. The car in question is a 455 equipped C-body so it has the flex joint right below the pinch bolt at the firewall.
Yes, new ones are available $30.....get a used shaft and transfer the boot to it......much much cheaper.
Where do you get new ones from? I see a couple companies that make them but they are all special order through manufacturing distributors.
I think NPD (National Parts Depot) carries them in the Chevelle catalog or SS396.com or OPG.......like I said before, by time you pay shipping and the part....you will have $40 into it....get another shaft or get a used boot....if you can wait until Wed.....I should have one for you!
I'm going to be poking around locally to snag a universal one. Since I doubt I'll find one I'll look forward to hearing about what you dig up. I don't mind paying the money for a new one since it's something I hope will last another 40 years. It would be nice to save a few bucks that I can put towards another part though. Mine looked fine but was leaking a bit around the bottom tie. When I tried to colapse the column today it just shredded. All the rubber on my car has done that when it gets handled or moved.
The Parts Place carries them........http://www.thepartsplaceinc.com/pop-up/popup.asp?id=ST5578Z.jpg $29.00
Mine doesn't look like that one. I don't know if it's because of the application or because of the year. If that'll work on a 73 Electra than I'll go for that style seal. This is what I have on mine. It looks like a U-joint boot but there's no U-joint under it.
There is a very small u-joint inside the boot...the pic on the Parts Place site is the wrong angle....should see the boot in the horizontal view....will post pics here Wed morn.
On a related note, to change the boot do you punch/drill out the 2 pins that hold the shaft halves together? I figured I'd do that and then use bolts with nuts to put the shaft halves back together.
Once you remove the inner snap ring from the upper housing....you will see the u-joint is held in place w/clips.....easy to take apart and reassemble.....no replacement parts/bolts/nuts are needed.
Back from the dead. Going to be putting in the new column soon and wanted to double check on this topic since nows a good time to paint the shaft and replace the boot. Any updates on this particular style boot? The A-body ones I see pictured on Georges site aren't quite the same as this is quite a bit longer. Also every junkyard one I found crumbled the moment I put any sort of pressure on them.
The style boot you show in your picture is also used on Pontiac Firebird/TransAms, probably Camaros, and I've also seen it on some Monte Carlo steering shafts. So...check with Ames Performance Engineering (you remember them from your other thread don't you:grin for a Pontiac source and also check some of the Firebird/Camaro repro parts places. I'll bet GM still has these since they were probably used into the mid-late '70's.
Those arent pins! What your seeing is the plastic that was injected to hold the two halves together. Is a collapsable column. God forbid you have an accident, those halves collapse inside each other like a retractable radio antenna instead of harpooning you in the chest. So dont drill anything out or install bolts.
I checked into the f-bodies and g-bodies and those are saying to use the small A-body style boot too. Seems that maybe the long accordion style boot is obsolete. I may try to track down a boot from a shock or something and see if I can find the right diameters to fit. I just don't see how the short boot will fit this shaft since it's a couple inches shorter than the stock one
It won't matter how long the boot is. It's a matter of the inner and outer diameters of the shaft and boot that would make it work or not. I would try to find an "A" body boot and shaft and take some measurements. It might just be they have the same diameters as the one you need for your car.
+ You need a factory boot made for this application because the factory boots have a steel inner core where they go up into the upper "bell". This steel ring/core keeps the boot stiff so it will be held in well by the retaining clip. An unsupported rubber boot of some type might tear or work its way out from under the retaining clip....then you have a mess of grease, etc...and have to pull the whole thing again! Try the ordinary Abody boot (non-accordian style). Here's a couple pics of a new one installed on an Abody intermediate shaft.....
