Damn,my first testdrive today in the Belvedere

[kokxville]

After 1.5 years of rebuilding the engine and fixing her up,today i was doing the first testdrive in my 66 Belvedere,before i was going to the dmv to get her licensed.
But when i drove a couple of miles and she was on good temperature,i dicided to floor it one time.Just when i was driving 65 miles per hour in 2nd gear ( you know,high in the rpm's feeling good to hear that 318 poly scream just before going to 3rd gear) suddenly there was a big bang  .So i pulled over.The engine is fine,but the driveshaft broke loose from the rear,completely tearing the left exhaust off from the manifold to the rear bracket. I have double checked everything before i was going to drive,so i don't understand why this happened.
Now i have to spend another day in my garage to fix everything,and have her roadworthy again 

Tought i share my experience from today with u guys

[Ghoste]

How did the transmission tailshaft make out in the deal?

[Cooter]

Sorry to hear, but that's usually life with old cars. Kinda makes me think there was an underlying problem with the yoke on rearend, or bad "unseen" u-joint.

[Road Dog]

AAAAAHHHH. The power of the mighty 318   

[Mytur Binsdirti]

Kinda makes me think there was an underlying problem with the yoke on rearend, or bad "unseen" u-joint.

I would be willing to bet it's in the rear U-joint. Something as simple as a missing/improperly installed cup C-clip, saddle strap or a loose/weak bolt can wreak a world of havoc.

[Kern Dog]

Ahhh..... welcome to the joy of owning old cars. Stuff like this happens. You can rebuild the entire car and essentially have a 2012 version of a 66 Plymouth, then in 46 years the same thing may happen again!