ALFAGTV6.COM

MD and Patzo
as requested some info and pics on my driveshaft converted to uni's.
the rear section measures 510mm. the front measure 855 extended and 820mm compressed.
the aluminium disc is the carrier that bolts to the flywheel and the CV joint at the front.
it doesn't seem too heavy! i will weigh it and compare with the standard set up and let you know the results.

any questions, fire them through and i will try and answer them!

anyone out there have any input to this set up?
i didn't design it, it came with a wrecked race car i bought!! im told it was developed with the help of someone involved with the preparation of the south african racing V6's.
does it look like a good solution to the rubber donut issue??

WOW..all i can say is id love to get my hands on 1 or 2 of those setups

OK ..I see one slider? at one end...the center carrier...is there a slider at the other end??

That thing is worth its weight in gold.....

Benski105

Thanks mate. That's excellent.

The real value of this info though is to have it checked for balance and fit it to a road car and see if all the claims about vibration are acceptable or not.

If it works, goodbye doughnuts forever. It's cheaper to make a whole new shaft like this than to replace all the doughnuts and rebalance.

What are your plans for the shaft?

X-rad. There is only one slip joint required. It could be at either end but probably at the front it would be most useful.

MD: how is it possible that only one slip joint required when both the front and rear of shaft move in relation to the center bearing?


Got a pic of the front of the tranny?

The universal joint looks like something off an axle?

if it was up to me id want the slider in the back...the engine isnt likely to move forward or back much if at all....all its going to do is lean a bit on hard accell....looks like a 70's toyota celica line except for that end joint piviot thing

The front joint is obviously a CV-joint wich can take up quite a lot of plunge (and it has the J-style boot I was talking about earlier), the rear movement is probably taken up in the center bearing support. The movement is probable next to nothing though and the std propshaft doesn't have any sliders or anything so I see no problems. I guess the racecar had uprated mounts in both engine and gearbox?

What's the PCD on that front joint? Looks massive!
Tube diameter would be very interesting as well.

Sheit, I don't know what's wrong with me lately, Mats and I seem to agreeing on stuff . Next it will be Swedish lessons ya ?

Of the two, the tranny is better tied down and is likely to move less because the engine will pivot and rotate, particularly if you have soft engine mounts and a crappy rear engine mount. So I would expect greater angularity to appear behind the engine.

The benefit of the slip joint is to make fitment much simpler and take care of minor differences of location between the engine and box. If you have a fixed length shaft, you have to adjust the position of the box and/or the engine to be sure the shaft is correctly positioned and the doughnuts are not "stretching" as they rotate.

Beautiful !

An alternative to using a CV up front is to use another Uni and make a spigot fitment into the flywheel via a flange. Saves on rotating mass.

ill check the diameters and weight and post what i find!
im told that this system balanced up really well and ran so smoothly that you could comfortably rest you're hand on the spinning shaft.

im going to try it out on the GTV 6 race car im building. im about to get a lightweight flywheel made for the front and look at the clutch assembly too, all in the interest of lightening the rotating mass!

the other thing i noticed is that the transmission mounts are nolathane and look like they would be very firm. ill post a pic or two!!

im trying to find the fitting for the flywheel end, i didn't get the G box but know the guy who did so im hoping to be able to get the other half of the rear joint!!

its great to have some feedback about the system too.
ill keep this post up to date as i set the system up and run it etc. wont be straight away as the car is just at the early stages.

ben

benski105

The rear coupling flange is more likely than not simply a circular plate with a centre provision to couple over and centre on the triangular gearbox input flange. It's critical that it is definitely centred.

It will have holes to mate with the Uni. and three holes for the flage.

As for a light clutch flywheel, there are plenty of custom single and multiplate light alloy composites around to do the job. Unfortunately they all want a house morgate for one so it's an uphill battle to get value for money.

Keep up the good work. You got something really interesting happening there.

ill definatly be watching this post...as im determined to go to a tradistional u-joint on my project....

keep us posted

looks like six bolts hold the universal joint to the fly wheel adaptor by just screwing into the aluminum plate....this looks like a weak point

it seemed to work on the car it was originally installed in!

although it was a 4 cyl instead of a V6.
not sure if the extra torque of the V6 will cause problems!
the original motor produced around 200hp so it wasn't slow!!

some more measuring and weights to follow.

looks like the universals came of the older GTV's or spider...any thoughts?

Cant say for if this is one of Dawies but i have seen some props pretty much identical in his workshop. Its normally a BMW m3 joint upfront with the connecting plate. Maybe Barry has some pics of this