John---It is necessary to take out the driveshaft to change its two
u-joints. You can do this from below the car without disturbing the
interior, if you wish. It sounds like you may have missed these two
before. You might be able to see and feel for obvious play here. See if
you can find a grease fitting on them, as a temporary only fix. If they
are "original" they probably do not have fittings.
Set the parking brake, and while under the car, try turning the
driveshaft, and halfshafts. See if there's any extraordinary movement
before the next part of the train moves. I know this wil be difficult to
judge, as there is almost always lots of lost motion on these cars, with
higher mileage.
Check the oil level in the transmission and differential. Both of these
units have bearings that can protest loudly when under load, and ready
to fail.
With each rear wheel off the ground, try shaking the tire from top to
bottom, or side to side. Sometimes this will pick up on a rear hub
that's getting loose. (and needs rebuilt)
Right now, my money's on the drive shaft u-joint(s) being suspect. Note
that the gear shift lever almost always vibrates when either of these
'joints are bad. Ya gotta' get back to that pickin' and grinnin'!
Dick
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