Being a doofus leads to an expensive intermediate shaft saga...
Back in post #83, I thought that my intermediate shaft was bent due to excessive runout, and it wouldn't turn smoothly in the case. I bought a used one off ebay, which measured in spec and turned smoothly. When I went to check axial play, there was none. So, like with the first shaft, I decided to tap on each end to seat the thrust bearings. Recheck...Argh! Now it won't turn!
Turns out that my "tapping" bent the flange inward, causing the binding.
Intermediate shaft #1...
Intermediate shaft #2...
While I admit to being a doofus on a regular basis, I am experienced in the use of a hammer. I was a carpenter in my youth, before nail guns were commonplace, and have driven hundreds of thousands of nails. This may have actually been my downfall because I wasn't expecting the flange to be so soft and my usual hammering force was too much.
All of my fiddling marred the bearings a bit...
After learning from my mistakes, I bought another ebay special. Cleaned it up a little and found some pitting on the journal. Argh! Not using this one...
And the aftermath...
Intermediate shafts: $700 (1 original and 3 ebay)
Bearings: $300 (Glyco and Porsche)
Total cost of being a doofus: $1,000