Hey Bill
I don’t even want to tell about the disaster I am facing with my Chevette based TD. I was trying to hook up the electronic (Hall effect) speedo sensor for the new Autometer speedometer I installed. To make a long story short, the little nylon speedo gear on the end of the cable drive is now residing in the transmission somewhere. AAAH!
This brought me to your question. While inspectioning how to get the trans out, without yanking the motor too, I inspected the universal and carrier bearing set up on the Chevette torque tube “drive shaft”. It seemed sloppy to me too, but I noticed the carrier bearing seems to be mounted in a rubber donut. After talking to a “Chevette” dirt oval racer, I was told they are all like that and not to worry about it.
I also found out that the 4 speed manual trans in the Chevette/T-1000 are Opel Kadett trannies. Not that that makes them any easier to find.
I will search in another Chevette forum for opinions on the carrier set up. That “loose” seems like it’s not right to me.