Shortening a torque tube and driveshaft??

I need to shorten my torque tube and driveshaft. I'm running a '39 trans and a '40 rear end. The torque tube and driveshaft are from a '46.

The trans end of things is fine. The 6-spline driveshaft will slip right into the trans ujoint. The splines on my pinion number 10 though.

I want to lop off my driveshaft at the desired length and then buy a coupler to mate it to the rear end. My question is, can I put a metal cutting wheel on my grinder and grind the splines into the end of the driveshaft? Or are the tolerances between the driveshaft and coupler something that needs to be dead nuts on?

A 6 to 10 spline adaptor would eliminate a few splines I'd have to grind into the driveshaft.

Am I crazy? A tightwad? Should I spring for a pro to do this or is this something the local vo-tech school machine shop might could/should handle?

Thanks, JH

 

my buddy just had his done and it only cost 65 bucks. they are shortening it and balancing it. im sure you can shorten it yourself, but i wouldnt risk it. and it has to be balanced. or else it could vibrate like all hell. just let the pros do it.

diego

 

You can cut the driveshaft on one end to length and have a real machinist respline the end precisely to the coupling...thats the righteous way. There's no reason the shaft couldnt be permanently affixed to the coupling, so you could do it yourself without the precise spline tolerances, but how you mate the two will have to be straight, and the weld should be proper. The olde-school way was to take the tubular shaft from a '34 and cram it over a coupling and weld em together.