Pretty straightforward operation, but hopefully there are a couple of nuggets for anyone who hasn't done this before.
Yank the rear and pull the tube. The speedometer gear, roller bearing, etc had already been pulled from this one. But that's easy to do. There are two bolts holding the drive In place and a snap ring at the front of the roller bearing ***embly. Keep track of the order so it all goes back together the same way.
Two different styles of TT here. Both are model A, but the one on the right has a constant taper. Too much h***le to shorten, but perfect for exhaust. The semi-random masking tape lines are explained in the next post.
Pro shops charge a lot for this type of work because they sand blast the parts first so they can mark them up with an $8 can of ****m and a scribe. Me? I bomb the long straight piece of tape with some bumper chrome and peel away. This is going to help clock the pieces when it's re***embled.
So, I missed the photos on this part I was enjoying music too much to unplug my phone and take photos as I worked, but I will give a description. This is where you reinstall the bell end (yeah Mart, I said it) of the tube to the transmission. You block the front wheels and put a jack under the tube to support and center it around the driveshaft. You then roll the rear end fore and aft, blocking, stepping back... looking, thinking, go get a coffee, then come back and have another look. We're talking 1/4" and 1/8" increments here. Are the wheels centered in the wheel wells? perfect.
Take a square measurement from the rear end flange to the edge of the supported tube. That's your number. Visualize t******* the flange end of the tube to fill that space.
TAKE NOTE: you are going to be shortening the driveshaft as well. Keep track of your measurements and think big picture. Remember which side of a mark you were cutting on and be consistent with that, add the thickness of cutoff wheels to your measurements where appropriate, etc.
Thick angle long enough to clamp securely. You MIGHT be able to get by with a single piece and a couple of c-clamps. But two pieces 180 degrees apart is added security. Weld pads to one piece of angle to make the clamping easier. You now have a dedicated tool for the job.
Big tack welds. Four of 'em 90 degrees apart. Tack, flip, tack. Re-clamp everything before doing the second set to be sure. Welds definitely need to be big enough to keep things from moving.
Calling it done for now. Everything is in the right place. I'll come back to finish it out and shorten the driveshaft when everything has been mocked and the ch***is is back apart for final welding. I'll be sure to post my solution for the driveshaft then.
Not discounting the pipe cutter at all because the cut will definitely be more square, but do you think it really matters that much compared to the method used to square up the two halves before rejoining? (within reason) I could see it being a little more convenient, but you do still have the mess of grinding the bevel.
Not to discount your work or hijack your thread, your work is great, i do have a question though. Would it be better to machine a smaller od. 5" or so legnth of tube with a tolerance fit, tap it into each section of tube and rosette weld it as well as all three around? I know it is done like you show all the time and works fine, maybe i tend to over engineer things
Ha - I reached into my stash of hose clamps first and couldn't find one long enough. I probably need to pick up a few as well as a big pipe cutter.
The pipe cutter does bevel the tube a bit, and leaves a substantial burr inside the cut. The squarer the cut the better the fit. The better the fit the more even the weld and less chance for warping.
Yes. No coupler. The cool thing is that they don't get smaller inside of the roller bearing surface so if you have a place local that can cut the 6 spline pattern (I do) you can easily use them as a V8 driveshaft. Much easier than trying to add material to spline after cutting the later V8 driveshaft.
Just another way of doing it, ive done it both ways, both ways worked, i was just saying i did it that way. i just seem to have lots of trouble cutting things sqaurely i usally do it with a hose clamp too, i just had access to the tubing cutter so i figured id give it a whirl. Thats kinda what i like about it, i know it was cut sqaurely.
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