so i accidently bought a car and started a challenge team last night. have questions.

I love the ingenuity you guys bring to the table. I especially like the "Sling Blade" shifter. Hope the Miata DD works out.

Miata is almost mint now.

The slingblade shifter still needs smome refinements. Or a rat fink costume.

I'm down with Rat Fink. Mint is good.

Takes some cojones to mod a driveshaft yourself! What are your plans to cover your tires?

16ga comes in at 2.5# per square foot. Current scrap price for steel is about $0.075/lb.

So we have about 25 cents worth if 16 gauge. Cool!

Plans for coverage of the tires are to sawzall the crap outta it for clearance, and hopefully use the chunks of fender flares and water heater metal to make something decent looking.

Or, just leave the tires hanging out and radiused wheelwells like a dirt track car.

Crackers wrote: Takes some cojones to mod a driveshaft yourself!

Ill agree with this. Honestly, i questioned whether or not to post it.

Its either going to be just fine, or catastrophic. Im afraid that I may encourage someone else to try this, and they get hurt.

Im going to be very cautious about this thing until I know its not a bomb waiting to go off.

Dallas just texted me that hes bringing the portaband tonight. Shifting gears in my head to finish the rest of the fab work.

Strut rod bracket gussets, steering column mounts; anything else I am forgetting?

I just Googled home balancing for drive shafts. Something about running it with a just snug hose clamp. The screw on the clamp goes where you add weight. Centrifical force will find the spot. I dunno. See if budget can find room for balancing. There is a reason for driveshaft hoops.

I read about the hise clamp trick as well. Im going to try it.

Ive still have enough room in the budget to have a pro do this. But id rather spend that money on an 8.8

8.8 is a versatile rear. My son is going to put one in his G-body. You can still get them fairly cheap. Just a matter of moving some perches.

Is there some RWD Ford that has a driveshaft the right enough length? Meaning, some Mustang or Ranger or whatever that can provide an 8.8 and a driveshaft that you could use that wouldn't need changing length on.

In reply to pres589:

I think the problem with this idea is the wheelbase. 96 inches. With the engine setback, the drishaft is stupid short. At least compared to what is readily available in the area.

SWB van driveshaft?

Hmmm....

Any idea of the length of one?

I've known a few people that have done the same as you. Only one was acceptable balance-wise but none failed. YMMV

I hope you indexed the shaft before you cut it, so your u-joints are properly phased. Bad things happen when they are out of phase.

In reply to AngryCorvair:

Nope. Forgot to. But when we remembered about it, wr laid the driveshaft on the bench and tweaked until both u joints laid flat on the caps.

Why does phasing make such a difference? I ask because I Really don't know.

In reply to Dusterbd13:

When the yoke and driveshaft are non-parallel, the u-joint will cause the driveshaft speed to vary slightly with each rotation. If the pinion and yoke are in-phase, then you'll not feel the slight speed differential, as the two u-joints will cancel each other out(also why having the pinion and yoke parallel is important). If not, it will cause vibration.

Dusterbd13 wrote: Hmmm.... Any idea of the length of one?

No, I just remembered reading somewhere that someone was suprised that one from a van was pretty much perfect when they were looking for a shorter one for a swap. More of a "people don't think to check those" sort of suggestion.

Love what you guys are doing

What length of driveshaft do you need?

In reply to cmcgregor:

I can't remember at the moment. Ill measure tonight and get back to you.

Pete nailed it. Here's a video on the subject:

Driveshaft angles and u-joint phasing

So, we scored a 3.73 posi explorer 8.8, rear discs, springs, sway bar, everything for 100 bucks about 10 minutes ago. Guy is pulling them for us tomorrow, we take delivery monday after work.

That was really my last concern. Gearing and axle strength.

We also were given by a local guy a set of burnt, dented, and rusty vw bug fenders to make fender flares out of. I knocked on his door and asked hiw much, and he put them in my truck and bummed a smoke. How do i fair maklrket value that?

Cigarette $0.15

Cigarette delivery $5.00

Sin tax $4.00

You must be Catholic too. Pretty sure protestants call it an offering.

( before anybody gets their panties in a wad it's a joke I was raised Catholic my wife is devoutly Catholic. I also debated doing papal indulgences instead of offering)