Drive shaft is kaput - need new one

[Guest]

Topic originally created by sam231 on June 13, 2012 1:59 AM and viewed 3316 times in the old forum.

[Guest]

Originally posted by sam231 on June 13, 2012 1:59 AM

Sad news.....my drive shaft is kaput, finished, shot, broken, not worth ressurecting. 87K miles and it has died. We have tried Roelofs, Motion Products, Algar and I am going to e-mail Tom S. If any of you know of one kicking around, or have a suggestion of a place to search, send me a PM..
Cheers (although there is nothing to be cheery about!)
Sam

[Guest]

Originally posted by Zanny1 on June 14, 2012 12:14 AM
Sam - my place is about 5 miles from Tom's boneyard. I have been there several times getting pieces for 15693. Last time I visited Tom (it's been a couple of years) , he had a complete 365 GT4 2+2 he was parting out. He also has a wrecked C4, burned and totalled..... but drivetrain on the ground and useable.
Let me know if he has what you need and I will inspect for you. I need to make a trip there anyway pretty soon.
Mike

[Guest]

Originally posted by sam231 on June 14, 2012 6:17 AM

Sam - my place is about 5 miles from Tom's boneyard. I have been there several times getting pieces for 15693. Last time I visited Tom (it's been a couple of years) , he had a complete 365 GT4 2+2 he was parting out. He also has a wrecked C4, burned and totalled..... but drivetrain on the ground and useable.
Let me know if he has what you need and I will inspect for you. I need to make a trip there anyway pretty soon.
Mike

Hi Mike,
Thanks for the offer to visit Tom. I emailed him a couple of days ago and he replied he could not help. What I told him was that I was looking for a complete drive shaft. Mine being an early car, it is one piece. If push comes to shove I may have to either have a new shaft built of convert my car to the later set-up with a split shaft and, I presume, no torque tube. We are searching for toasted C/4's all over right now. If you want to drift by Tom's place and have a look to see if the toasted drivetrain is still around that would be very nice. Please do not go out of your way though.
Sam

[Guest]

Originally posted by Ian Levy on June 14, 2012 12:56 AM
Sam
Sorry but no joy from Ferrari UK or Eurospares.
Thought that 365 GT4 2+2 prop shaft might work, which they can get, but shaft is completely different.I will keep on trying
Regards
Ian

[Guest]

Originally posted by sam231 on June 14, 2012 6:31 AM
While we are looking for a drive shaft I have had a new coupling made and we will do the same process as before; cutting off the old, welding on the new then balance. I should get my car back on the road but it is obvious I will have to be "gentle" with it.....no more fast shifts and stop light challenges :

[Guest]

Originally posted by sam231 on June 15, 2012 5:49 AM
I just want to correct some thing I said in my reply to Mike. The later drive shaft for a C/4 is NOT split in the middle. Mea Culpa. The drive shaft is essentially the same but instead of a transmission coupling as part of the shaft like mine the latter arrangement has a spline coming off the shaft going through stabilizing ring and bushing to a coupling. Both arrangements utilize a torque tube. At least that is how it appears in the later parts book. We are going to repair my car using the latter method because it is more structurally sound.

[Guest]

Originally posted by rickkaufman on June 15, 2012 4:11 PM
Just to be clear- you need the torque tube, right?

[Guest]

Originally posted by Ian Levy on June 15, 2012 5:48 PM
Rick
Hope not, I have been looking for the propshaft
Ian L

[Guest]

Originally posted by sam231 on June 19, 2012 6:29 AM
Okay, here is an update. We are now going to shoot for a conversion to the later driveline set-up.
We have located a new OEM shaft in original packaging that had been stored away years ago, we also have a line on a used shaft that might be in good shape too. We are now looking for a torque tube, one built for a later C/4 than mine (#14953) that has the ring mounted inside it on the transmission end. For you bean counters out there the conversion to the newer driveline set-up occured 36 cars later than mine, or roughly car #15025 (I believe numbered assembly order on a C/4 was every other number, but I may be wrong).
So yes Rick, I am looking for a torque tube now too.
The beat goes on.
Sam

[Guest]

Originally posted by Ian Levy on June 19, 2012 1:47 PM
Hi Sam
I wish you good luck but I am not sure about the car change over number unless the Euro cars were different.
My car is 15989 & has the old style( without bearing ) arrangement
Best of luck
Ian L

[Guest]

Originally posted by sam231 on July 10, 2012 1:09 AM

Things are moving along nicely. We managed to locate a NOS drive shaft of the later design, the proper coupling and the bearing, but my mechanic John Tirrell had to make the housing that the bearing sits in. I believe the housing is normally a fixed part within a newer torque tube, but since we are using my old one it had to be fabricated separately. Now, how do you mount it in the tube? John suggested we place all parts together on the on the shaft (as illustrated above) and fit in in the tube.The housing is slightly narrower than the tube. Four holes will be cut in the tube where the housing sits and bolts will be placed in the holes and tightened against the housing ring. The bolts will allow small adjustments to the position of the ring to help center it and eliminate vibration from the shaft..Take a look at all the shavings from the grinding of the ring!

[Guest]

Originally posted by Aaron on July 10, 2012 3:25 AM
My 15777 - has the bearing.
As a side note, back when I pulled the transmission the first time, I was not able to locate a "flexible Axis" type ball bearing. I replaced it with a standard non flexible ball bearing with the caveat that I would always
pull the torque tube, drive shaft and diff as a unit. This way I could carefully lift the torque tube virtically off the diff and not put any rotational force on the bearing. That was 40K miles ago.

On a previous post I talk about sleving the differential input shaft and replaceing the steel ring on the rear of the drive shaft. I had some slop in this junction and it caused driveshaft vibration - rattled the shifter.

Hope everything works out well

Aaron

[Guest]

Originally posted by rickkaufman on July 10, 2012 5:33 PM
Sam, I have got a tranny, but not the tube. I though my friend had the tube, but I am sorry to report no. If someone needs a RHD tranny, without the guts (gears/ synchros), let me know. I don't want to let go of the gears, but could be convinced to depart with the housing for anyone with RHD who desires a spare.

[Guest]

Originally posted by sam231 on July 10, 2012 11:12 PM
Thanks for the help Aaron and Rick. Rick, we found a tranny last year in a salvage yard in the midwest. It came out of a toasted C/4 (the guy probably used the choke and pumped the gas, like what had happened to mine!). The case was a mess but all the gears were fine. I think I paid $2k for it
I am told the car will be ready in a week or so and it will be interesting to see how the fix works out. Needless to say it will beat having to weld a new coupling on the old shaft every year...............and the inevitable flatbed pickup in east overshoe too! I think I spent 6 hours the last two years on the side of major highways waving at passerbys and once talking to a very nice state trooper who stopped by to see if I needed help and wound up going over the car asking all sorts of fun questions. At least he made that event tolerable.
In the end I suppose this was bound to happen. The car has 87k miles on it and judging by the fixes that have been made over the years some of its life was definitely spent hard driving and being put away wet.
Now, does anyone have a source for left and right wiper arms for a 275GTB? As a result of all this I have become a go-to guy for vintage parts for my mechanic ;>)