DIY propshaft?

[HandyAndy]

as most of you know i,m building on a tight budget so would like to ask your opinion on whether i should or should not fabricate my own propshaft for my Roadster from the donor propshaft?

it looks fairly easy to do but am i being too tight to buy one or is it not safe to fabricate one from the donor parts i have?

£100 approx for a new propshaft compared to £0 for a diy one, the money i could save would pay for other parts i still need but if its a safety issue then i,ll accept that ,

so your opinions/advice is welcomed & sought.

thanks
andy

[londonsean69]

TBH it is what they advocated in the Champion book, and it is mentioned in the roadster.

It all depends how confident you are with your welding, and if you can get the right materials, although I am assuming the propshaft needs to be shortened (no donor)

You could always take it somewhere and have it checked afterwards, and maybe balanced.

If you are really worried, but intent on doing it, why not fit a safety loop? The yanks do it quite a lot on drag cars

http://home.fuse.net/fastmonte/DSSL4Gbodies.htm

I just googled "prop shaft safety loop" and that was the first thing to come up.


I'm sure someone will be along soon to say "its a dumb/crazy/stupid idea" but then again so is building a car from scratch

Sean

[RAYLEE29]

Hi Andy,
I'm making my own, I was given a 2.0l pinto from a transit and it came with g/box and prop the best bit is the transit prop has servicable joints so im making my own also the transit spline is the same as for a type 9 and the rear flange fits my 7.5" sierra diff
I just have to decide whether to use the big tube or the small tube which has the centre bearing
just to say I've modified props before and never had any probs.
just make sure it runs true before final welding and that the joints line up with each other
Ray

[HandyAndy]

cheers Sean/Ray,
so i,m not barking mad ???

as the donor prop i have has a center joint which obviously i don,t need to incorporate into the shortened version would i still need the coupling at the gearbox end?
would it be ok to have the splined end a "rigid end" & the diff end with the coupling thats already there? the reason i ask is this would make it alot easier to fabricate as someone has suggested to me to just use the splined end welded onto the main shaft once i get the dimensions spot on

i feel confident enough to make it run "true" & would also sleeve the join to ensure a strong welded section,
like you say it is mentioned in both books so folk must have done it in the past , its not just the fact that i,m a tight git

i like the idea of a safety loop, think thats a good idea regardless of a diy prop or commercially made one.

cheers
andy

[dogwood]

I made my own propshaft as well.
Including the rubber donut at the front.

I was not entirly happy with it, thought I would change it later.
That was 3,000 miles ago.
Still going fine, think I'll keep it...

David

[HandyAndy]

thanks Adrian,
the safety factor is my main concern, tho i wasn,t thinking of using the rubber ring as like you say it is rather large for the tunnel,
some fellow kit car owner has suggested that i cut the splined end off the current prop & friction fit it into the larger tube that has the diff flange & weld it up once all is true, tho if i still need a coupling at both ends i could cut/shut the two parts(pipe) & then sleeve the joint, hmmmmm

Dogwood...... do you have a photo of your installed prop please, pref showing the gearbox end & the joint you made to fabricate it please?

thanks
andy

[Bonzo]

I'll be setting mine up in the lathe & welding it up

That bloody rubber donut is a very tight fit in the tunnel though

Hoping to find an early model prop before I get to that stage.

Cheers for the tip Ray, I may very well be able to lay my hands on an early Transit propshaft

[RAYLEE29]

I would say you need a joint or donut at the g/box end and a joint at the rear
Ray

[dogwood]

Originally Posted by HandyAndy

Dogwood...... do you have a photo of your installed prop please, pref showing the gearbox end & the joint you made to fabricate it please?

thanks
andy

Sorry Andy mate.
Just checked, Thats one pic I ain't got.
If it ain't pissing hard tomorrow I'll get the car out and take one.

As for the joint, I cut the donut end off.
Then put it in the lathe to give me the shoulder to reweld the pipe back on.

Hope this little pic helps


David

[frankie boy]

HI
I made my own prop. It has a UJ a each end. Having coverd over 4000 miles and driven the car hard on track days im happy with its performance.