Propshaft
 

I tried calling up a local company today to look into getting my propshaft shortened and it was a confusing call to say the least! It sounds like they seem to think they would in theory have to make a new propshaft with a sleeve?? at the top followed by the universal join and a flange at the end to connect to the diff. He didn't seem to think there would be enough material at the bottom of my old propshaft so it would be a new one which he said would be around £170+vat! I wasn't expecting it to be as much as that as there's some other threads on here where people have got them shortened or even new ones for much less? Can anyone explain what he was talking about with the sleeves at the top? I thought the top would remain unchanged and would just bolt onto the gearbox as is, and he would just take a chunk out the longer bottom section and then re-balance it?

We have always done our own in our old clunker of a lathe.All we do is part off the weld with a v shaped tool untill you can just see the spigot of the yolk. Knock the yolk off trim tube to lenght press it back together and re weld. Because we spend a bit of time clocking them to make sure they run true they have never come back from ballancing with any weights on them. I would put that at about £60-80 tops.
The trouble you have is P+P each way if you have to send it anywhere. Might pay to nip into a local engineering shop and get a quote. If they are not mechanically minded just get them to make sure they index the uj`s

Bob

Something else to consider is your future engine plans, if it will use the same prop and what kind of power you expect from your new engine

When i got mine made i paid extra to get one rated to 200bhp instead of 150bhp which they said was a common kitcar one

Its a grey area categorising props power cababilities because of torque figures aswell as bhp, but i got the higher rated one anyway from dunning and fairbank, think it was £150 delivered if i remember correctly, it was 2years ago though

I did the same as Mark , £ 137 delivered for the uprated version from Dunning & Fairbanks in Leeds,

You tell them the length from diff flange to the gearbox oil seal & hey presto....3 days later it was in my Roadster :cool: great service

As a comparison.....mine is 742mm in length, Ash G,s is 744mm ( his original prop before changing his engine )so in effect we,ve installed the gearbox / engine to within 2mm of eachother, not bad from working from the book plans :cool:

Thought I,d add that my install is a 1.8CVH & Type 9 box to a Sierra diff.

cheers
andy

£170+vat sounds rather expensive to me .

I recently recieved this Quotation from Dunning & Fairbank :)

" You will need an adaptor plate to convert the Vauxhall output flange so that you can have a sliding joint.

We will need the pcd & pin dia to make sure we have the correct adaptor.

Price will be £165.00 + vat for the shaft & adaptor plate.

Delivery @ 4-5 days from order. "

This was for a prop to suit my Vauxhall Omega gearbox to Sierra diff.

Very pleased about the price bearing in mind that I want a sliding section in the shaft ;)

Guess I can order that up now that I have finalised the engines position :)

Just get a new one from D&F or NWP...

I was lucky, my engine & gearbox install matched to within 5mm that of ASH's old install. So His old prop was a perfect fit in the space :)

TT

Ya fair do's guys, it sounds like a better plan to just get a new one delivered from these guys. At least it'll be uprated too which is doubtfull from the local guys here. Newbie question though, wheres the oil seal on the gearbox so I can take the measurement?

the oil seal is at the rear of the engine technically speaking where your flywheel bolts on to your crank :-)

im in the same boat as you ie i have a sierra prop and a omega prop, do we need sliding joints? if so couldn't i just keep the omega slider and that donut mount and weld the sierra diff on after that part of the system? actually its too long aint it? :/ oh dear

The oil seal is the black rubber seal where the prop goes into the gearbox, see picture below.

Hi Michael

Don't think a sliding joint is needed :)

When I asked for the quote I had not fully finalised my engine position & asked D&F if it was possible to have one.

I thought that would give me 15-20 mm leeway in either direction.

Oops nearly forgot, it's quite nice to have the option of being able to remove the propshaft without dropping the diff or removing the gearbox ;)

AshG had one made up recently, perhaps he will be along with some advice :)