DIY propshaft?

[chriseyj]

Blimey that sounds awful!, must pick up PPC when it comes out. In the mag Kevin Leapers superharged crossflow westield is coming on now, seems alot of effort for 150 bhp though.
I realised when I was talking wet earlier, 2 safety loops would be more appropriate for a BEC install like I'm thinking about where you'd have a very long 2 piece prop shaft with centre bearing or reverse box.

[Bonzo]

After seeing that post. It has certainly made me have a quick re-think

Still giong to aler my own prop though.

Going to be putting something in the tunnel to prevent the prop coming through in the unlikely event of a prop failure

I have some 2mm zintec sheet that I could put in the last bit of the tunnel sides.
The only concern I have about that idea is would the extra rigidity in that area have an adverse affect of the overall chassis flexibility !!??

[HandyAndy]

Ronnie, i,m no structural engineer but i think the way the full chassis is fabricated the transmission tunnel is part of the integrity of the chassis but by making the sides of the tunnel stronger with thicker material won,t affect the overall flexibilty, as the sides will purely act upon the frame of the tranny tunnel, in my opinion of course

cheers
andy
ps, its also creating a safe cell for the occupants of the car

[spud69]

For my 2p worth, the prop is a critical part of the running gear and will greatly effect the handling and balance / feel of the car if its not correct.

My first prop was a cut down sierra prop with the balance wheel cut off the donut and welded very true, from what i thought. First test drive out, on my way to a pre-mot and it nearly shook the car to bits and actually necked off one of the welds on the exhaust at 40mph.

Phoned Dunnig and Fairbank in Leeds, drove down and they made me one in two hours. Lovely bit of kit once fitted to the car absolutely transformed it, was so smooth it was like a different car. All for 95 squid;

Not worth trying to bodge in my humble opinion.

Andy

[Coozer]

Having read the article in PPC and hearing of others letting go in the past I would recommend a new one. Mine was £110 from Dunning Fairbank and come registration on the bit were it says Transmission? tick NEW and show the receipt for the prop

[HandyAndy]

GULP , blimey those photos really do bring it home ,

hmmm, maybe i should get a proper job done with the prop, i mean if it was just me that got injured if it happened but the thought of hurting a passenger for the sake of £100 or so really makes me think.

thanks for the pics Coozer.

andy

[Bonzo]

I couldn't agree with you more spud.
This is one job best left to those who know what they are doing

That said, I personally feel that I have the right equipment, training & skill to carry out the task of altering the propshaft.

If I alter my prop & am not happy with the result or quality of the drive, trust me i'll know if things are not right.
It'll be straight on the phone to order one

My concerns are, what to do to assist safety in the event of prop failure !!??

I am minded at the moment to do the following.

Cover the sides of the transmission tunnel ( From TT4 to SB4 ) in some 2mm zintec sheet that I have & just begging to be used for the job .

Fabricate some 3mm strip steel safety hoops to place arround the prop.

My legs don't work too well at the best of times, I would still like to keep them, there the only ones I have got


Interesting to note looking at the photograps of the failed prop. It was a big time torque failure of the material.
Just goes to show that a good quality weld will never let go first !!??

Originally Posted by spud69

For my 2p worth, the prop is a critical part of the running gear and will greatly effect the handling and balance / feel of the car if its not correct.

My first prop was a cut down sierra prop with the balance wheel cut off the donut and welded very true, from what i thought. First test drive out, on my way to a pre-mot and it nearly shook the car to bits and actually necked off one of the welds on the exhaust at 40mph.

Phoned Dunnig and Fairbank in Leeds, drove down and they made me one in two hours. Lovely bit of kit once fitted to the car absolutely transformed it, was so smooth it was like a different car. All for 95 squid;

Not worth trying to bodge in my humble opinion.

Andy

[Coozer]

Its a good idea to combine some loops into the tunnel when you fabby your chassis.

On my old Striker with a bike engine and two piece prop I bolted in a loop around the mid joint out of 5mm steel plate and thinking back I reckon more would have been better.

More chassis triangular members and hoops will add safety and strengthen the chassis.

Steve

[7ishNZ]

In New Zealand the rules say we must have a safety hoop at each universal made from minimum 50x5mm steel.
I would not attempt to make my own driveshaft.. the alignment and balance is critical, and the consequences of a failure are not worth the few quid you might save.
You guys are a bit lucky in the UK regarding prop shafts... I was quoted NZ$1900 for a 1.4 meter long 2 piece shaft.. that's about 840 quid!!!

[jasongray5]

Originally Posted by 7ishNZ

In New Zealand the rules say we must have a safety hoop at each universal made from minimum 50x5mm steel.
I would not attempt to make my own driveshaft.. the alignment and balance is critical, and the consequences of a failure are not worth the few quid you might save.
You guys are a bit lucky in the UK regarding prop shafts... I was quoted NZ$1900 for a 1.4 meter long 2 piece shaft.. that's about 840 quid!!!

Surely it would be cheaper to get one made here and sent over to you then??