ok, so the victim is a stock '51 chev two door sedan, 3 speed on the tree and 4:11 rear. can i put lowering blocks on the back and not mess up the pinion angle for the driveline? i'm new to enclosed driveshafts, and i just can't reason this through in my head. i'm assuming the pinion angle is on the end of the driveshaft that mates to the transmission(?) it's a fixed angle at the rear, right? and (to complicate matters) if i put airbags on the car, do i need an open driveshaft/new rear, axle altogether? i've only ever bagged open drivshaft vehicles, so forgive my ignorance... thank you. tred.
I talked to a few guy's when i lowered my '53..most told me not to go more than 3" in the rear with a closed driveline so it won't mess up the angle's.. I was also told you can go more as long as you put a spacer under the trans mount to correspond with the rear drop.. This advice was given to me for a car with 'fixed' lowering in the rear and not 'bags' or 'hydro's'.. I have a friend that had i think 5" blocks and de-arched springs in his 51 fleetline, and his used to pop out of gear (standard) when he was driving. He changed out the 5" and used 3" instead, with the lowered springs and never had any problems after that, I plan on going more than 3", so i'm probably going to do the spacer thing in the back..at least until i can afford to 'bag the whole thing. Happy, I know i said it before, but your car's kickass man! I think you need to post them pics of the chassis work for all us to see . Rat...
[ QUOTE ] I think you need to post them pics of the chassis work for all us to see . [/ QUOTE ] yes, pleez! good idea. thanks pakrat!
Happy, did you have any problems with the diff oil running out? Thinking of doing the same thing, but I've been advised not to run the torque tube if the rearend is higher than the trans.
I started getting a bunch of noise at my u joints and the inner tube at around 45-50 MPH. Messed with it, did a couple of adjustments and still was getting a bad noise from the back of the tranny. I ended up pulling mine out and going to an open driveline... seems much better. Hey happy hoppy - do you have any pics of the rear frame work you had to do for your bags? I'd love to see some... I wanna get my '54 on the ground but have no more room without cutting up the frame.
I will get some pic.sup soon. we had to cut the hell out of the floor, drive shaft hump from the rear to mid front seat. my rear wheel wells are gone ! I even had to trim the bottoms of the 1/4 window pockets. Iam running very tall tires (215s) you might not need to trim so much . I rebuilt the trany , I have way too much in it, and I don't get any oil transfer from the rear to the trans.
Great detailed pics & info happy hoppy! I appreciate it... I was always curious how far fwd you'd have to cut for the driveline to clear the floor. I didn't see where you had your bags located... are they mounted just behind the rearend???
[ QUOTE ] hey hoppy, whats that gas tank out of? [/ QUOTE ] were you paying any attention? "65 mustang gas tank adds alot of ground clearance. "
I have a 54 with enclosed drive line. I did 3" with no prob and am about to do 4. I'll keep you posted.
The Jalopy Journal
