The shaft leading to the muffler came undone. How

First, check to make sure your spare tire and jackstand are secure and not moving around. That could be a really simple cause, and free to fix.
Second, with the car off and cooled down, take your hand and try to wiggle the muffler. The muffler or exhaust pipe leading to the muffler could be loose. This is probably what's causing the rattle.

Look at the drive shaft see if its scraping on the muffler you could have a bad engine or transmission mount and thr torque from the engine is twisting the engine when you start out fast.You would see a line around the drive shaft and a spot on the muffler that is shiney

there is about 8 bolts around the inner cv joint.make sure you put thred lock on the bolts when you replace them or they will come undone on there own when your driveing.

Probably corrosion inside destroying the baffles and letting the wadding to break up. Sorry new is the answer.

chick sparks and its wires chick Fule pump Put First, Chick if theft system light is on or no If on wait hold on "ON' position for about 10 min then off repeat three times

the lower ball joint has to be undone.cotter pin and castle nut
the axle nut 36mm has to be undone.
.the control arm swung away from the end of the axle shaft.
using a pry bar,pry the knuckle away from the transmission,as just pulling out will not release it.
installation is done by lining up the shaft in the transmission and using wood or a brass drift to hit the shaft to seat it in place.
the lower conrol arm is a little tricky to move so that the hub fits over the axle .on average about 50 lbs force is needed to move it out of the way.
be sure to replace the cotter pin with the head fully inserted into the castle nut slot.
cheers and good luck.if you run into problems,get a haynes manual,it clearly explains and has pictures,and then you have a service book for your car.

First check all wires for any thing loose.
The muffler blowing up leads me to think the engine is so far out of time the PCM cant correct it.

REally you need to get it to a good mechanic.

Not sure what  you mean by rattling. If it is your drive shaft it could only be a worn U joint os just change the front and rear U joint unless you bent the drive shaft, but the shop should be able to tell you. The only other thing that would rattle under the truck would be the heat sheild for the Catalytic converter and muffler. Good luck and hope this helps

Ford corsair built in the 60s is a rear wheel drive car??.Any front wheel drive vehicle must have the big nut undone in the centre of the wheel ,put some engine oil on it let it soak for a day then undo it with a 32mm socket and a 3/4 drive socket set or 1inch drive socket set .1/2 inch is unlikely to do it as the knuckle bar will snap .most front wheel drive cars you will need to drop the subframe as well so give everything a good soaking with an oil can ,NOT WD 40 you do not need to remove the disk only the drive shaft ,undo the lower track control arm ,the track rod end and with big nut undone,screw it back on till end is flush with shaft thread the wack shaft in to loosen it using a nice bit of hardwood so you dont damage the thread on the end .

dealer only