My Unexpected '66 SWB-Fleet-Restomod Project!

[Modges'66]

I have been working on a number of things lately, but haven't seemed to finish any of them....Except one!
My dad was sifting through all of the items that I received when I purchased my truck and found that I had a drive-shaft mixed in with various other parts...I had no idea that it was even mine, until he said "where did this come from?"
We then started inspecting it and noticed that it had all kinds of information written on it with a sharpy marker pertaining to how long it needed to be and where to cut it to make it the correct length.
None of which was written by he or I...
We started taking measurements of the U-joints and yokes, and found that everything looked like it would work, except the front slip-yoke was for a manual transmission.
We then started digging through my dad's stuff and found a front yoke for a 700R4 that would work with this driveshaft.
The following pics are my version of shortening a driveshaft.
I am not sure if this is the correct way to do this, but this is how I decided to attempt this feat.
First, I collected all of my own data as far as overall length from center of front U-joint to center of rear U-joint (I am glad that I did this, because the measurements that the PO came up with were about 3" too short!)
I then cut the driveshaft off leaving me enough to hold on to in the lathe to turn the front flange weld free....I wouldn't advise doing this in just ANY cut-off saw, but I know that the saw in my shop is adjusted to cut extremely square.



Next I chucked up the cut portion into the lathe to turn the existing weld off to reclaim the front flange.
I measured the wall thickness of the tubing prior, so that I knew just how deep to cut to remove the weld, but not reduce the flange diameter.



A pic of the flange with the tubing removed.



Next, I cut the remainder of the shaft to the correct length, squared-up the assembly end-to-end, and drove the flange on to the tube.
Note: My calculated length was derived from measuring the overall length at full-up postion, and full-down position of the suspension travel, then taking the shortest length and subtracting 3/8" for any axle wrap-up that may occur during a hard launch to avoid it ever going to solid into the tail-shaft of the transmission.



Then, I simply tig-welded it back together...I will be more worried about the factory end of this driveshaft failing than this end...



And finally, sand-blasted, painted, and installed!
Check this item off from the list of things to do!



Thanks for looking, and
Happy New-Year!!!

[McMurphy]

Happy New Years buddy !!

Drive shaft looks sweet man, I bet I know how you felt cutting that buggar... I am always nervous about making those point of no return cuts because you only get one chance to do it right.

Looks like you did.
Congrats, nice job

[chevyrestoguy]

A cold saw, lathe, granite table, machinist's blocks, and a TIG welder. Man, you guys don't mess around. Nice pictures and explanations as well. VERY nice job!

[Bomp]

Been reading up on the drive line chop myself. Great to see how you tackled it. In the drive line file for later reference.

Great Job and thanks.

[Strodder]

[Ta2Don]

Great job on the Driveshaft!!!
Have a Blessed Year!

[65Gregg]

Will there be an issue with balance?

[rustbucket66]

It looks good. I worked at a driveline shop for a few years, and that is exactly how it is done. I couldn't tell from the one picture if the yokes were in phase with each other though. Put a level on the shaft that you have going through the yoke. The yoke at the other end should be the same level if you put the shaft through there and check it. If they aren't in phase it will give a lot of vibration. Also, the yoke could be on there 180 degrees different than it was at first. It should be marked on the shaft and the yoke before cutting it off so it goes back on the same. It may effect the balancing a little if it isn't on the same way. Might be worth a check on the balancer. Your welding is beautiful. We had a machine that did that weld on the yoke to shaft, and yours looks as good or better.

[clemdaddy]

nice job on everything. cluster light up, wiring through doors, driveshaft chop... it all looks great. you are getting closer and closer, stay after it.

happy new year!

[Modges'66]

Originally Posted by McMurphy

Happy New Years buddy !!

Drive shaft looks sweet man, I bet I know how you felt cutting that buggar... I am always nervous about making those point of no return cuts because you only get one chance to do it right.

Looks like you did.
Congrats, nice job

Murph!
I musta measured both the truck and the driveshaft 50 times to make sure that I was cutting it correctly!

Originally Posted by chevyrestoguy

A cold saw, lathe, granite table, machinist's blocks, and a TIG welder. Man, you guys don't mess around. Nice pictures and explanations as well. VERY nice job!

Dude,
Thanks, but thats just how I roll...LOL
All kidding aside, It is hard NOT to use these resources when they are right at your fingertips!

Originally Posted by Bomp

Been reading up on the drive line chop myself. Great to see how you tackled it. In the drive line file for later reference.

Great Job and thanks.

Bomp, thanks for the comments, and thanks for lookin!

Originally Posted by Strodder

Thanks man!

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Great job on the Driveshaft!!!
Have a Blessed Year!

Thanks Don, you too!

Originally Posted by 65Gregg

Will there be an issue with balance?

Man, I hope not!!!

Originally Posted by rustbucket66

It looks good. I worked at a driveline shop for a few years, and that is exactly how it is done. I couldn't tell from the one picture if the yokes were in phase with each other though. Put a level on the shaft that you have going through the yoke. The yoke at the other end should be the same level if you put the shaft through there and check it. If they aren't in phase it will give a lot of vibration. Also, the yoke could be on there 180 degrees different than it was at first. It should be marked on the shaft and the yoke before cutting it off so it goes back on the same. It may effect the balancing a little if it isn't on the same way. Might be worth a check on the balancer. Your welding is beautiful. We had a machine that did that weld on the yoke to shaft, and yours looks as good or better.

Yeah, ya can't tell from that pic, but I was checking to make sure that the two ends were in fact in phase with each other....Not quite ferfect, but I bet that you can't shove a .010" feeler in to stop the rock...
I figure that if balance becomes an issue I will take it to the local driveshaft shop for balancing.
The shaft had a very small weight on it to start with, and I turned the flange 180 degrees from what it was...
I have a 50/50 chance that it will be better or worse.
If it is worse, I will have it balanced.
My dad has done 5 driveshafts this way without a hitch, and the chances are that with MY luck, this one will probably turn out to be a problem!...LOL

Originally Posted by clemdaddy

nice job on everything. cluster light up, wiring through doors, driveshaft chop... it all looks great. you are getting closer and closer, stay after it.

happy new year!

Thanks Clem!
I appreciate your comments!
I plan to stay after it! The weather will be getting warmer soon, and I want to drive this thing soooooo badly!

[Modges'66]

A few weeks back I decided to spray the insides of my doors with sound-deadener/undercoating.
The major reason being, that the factory undercoating was so porous that I didn't think that my sound deadening mat would adhere properly.
I purchased some spray-on sound-deadener from Eastwood that had an optional wand attachment available....
I purchased it and the optional wand device, and when I received it, I realized that the wand could be extended by replacing their 18" long tubing with, say 40" of 1/8" urethane air tubing, thus making it long enough to undercoat any portion of the doors an ease to accomplish.
The undercoating worked great, filling in the porosity of the existing factory undercoating, and also leaving a smooth surface to apply my mat style sound-deadener to.
I applied the mat to both the inside of the door skin, and inner door. A huge amount of work, but proving well worth the effort!!!
I cannot even start to explain how much improvement that this made!
The doors sound similar to a new car when closing, instead of sounding hollow like a beer can!!!
A few pics for ya!






Feel free to let me know your thoughts, even if you're not sure!

[flips72]

great job on the drive shaft, and the door sound barrier will be a great asset when crusing down the interstate at about 70.

[Bomp]

Great Idea.

[Modges'66]

Originally Posted by flips72

great job on the drive shaft, and the door sound barrier will be a great asset when crusing down the interstate at about 70.

Originally Posted by Bomp

Great Idea.

Thanks guys!
A lot of the stuff that I have been doing lately hasen't really make the truck look any different, but it is progress just the same.
I hope to start making some advancements that are more visual in the very near future!

[McMurphy]

Dude I can only imagine what it was like snaking that adhesive backed deadner into the door cavity like that.
Props to you for the patience and small, contortionist hands that must have taken !!

Rock on buddy

[Modges'66]

Originally Posted by McMurphy

Dude I can only imagine what it was like snaking that adhesive backed deadner into the door cavity like that.
Props to you for the patience and small, contortionist hands that must have taken !!

Rock on buddy

Murph,
It was truly a PITA...
Hard to see in the pics, but I cut it into strips, peeled the corners of the backing off a bit, got it somewhat positioned, and then continued to remove the rest of the backing by pulling it out from under the sound-deadener.
You are right though, my arm-pits got really screwed-up, reaching that deep into the doors!

[laynrockers]

You beat me to it on the doors. I saw the same stuff from eastwood and will be also laying down sound deadener on the doors. I want to try and make my truck as modern as possible when it comes to things like this. Awesome build man keep it up!!

[ZouchaR]

Originally Posted by Modges'66

A few weeks back I decided to spray the insides of my doors with sound-deadener/undercoating.
The major reason being, that the factory undercoating was so porous that I didn't think that my sound deadening mat would adhere properly.
I purchased some spray-on sound-deadener from Eastwood that had an optional wand attachment available....
I purchased it and the optional wand device, and when I received it, I realized that the wand could be extended by replacing their 18" long tubing with, say 40" of 1/8" urethane air tubing, thus making it long enough to undercoat any portion of the doors an ease to accomplish.
The undercoating worked great, filling in the porosity of the existing factory undercoating, and also leaving a smooth surface to apply my mat style sound-deadener to.
I applied the mat to both the inside of the door skin, and inner door. A huge amount of work, but proving well worth the effort!!!
I cannot even start to explain how much improvement that this made!
The doors sound similar to a new car when closing, instead of sounding hollow like a beer can!!!
A few pics for ya!






Feel free to let me know your thoughts, even if you're not sure!

Ok.. I found the product.. how much did you need to do both doors???

[Modges'66]

Originally Posted by ZouchaR

Ok.. I found the product.. how much did you need to do both doors???

I bought enough to do the entire inside of the cab, but I am guessing that depending how extreme that you want to get, somewhere between 15-20 sq ft should do a good job on both doors.

[Modges'66]

Originally Posted by laynrockers

You beat me to it on the doors. I saw the same stuff from eastwood and will be also laying down sound deadener on the doors. I want to try and make my truck as modern as possible when it comes to things like this. Awesome build man keep it up!!

Whoa, thanks for the comment!
I want this thing to not only be fun to drive, but also comfortable to drive....
I don't want to feel happy just to get the heck out of it after a log trip...

[Modges'66]

Since I have the newer style power steering pump which needs a remote reservior, and an older style gearbox, I came to the conclusion that I would need to make my own power steering hoses...
sounds easy, right?....NOT!
This is where I became educated in AN fitting hell!
After spending some lenghty time in the performance parts store, I finally got all of the fittings & hose sorted out, and this is what I came up with!

A pic of the pump from above...


A pic of the pump from below...


A pic of the gearbox...


And a pic of the reservior...and if you haven't noticed, I have started fitting some of the front sheet-metal!

http://imagizer.imageshack.us/v2/102...90/21/edpk.jpg

[Ta2Don]

Looking Great!!!

[BWheels]

I just spent the last 2 hours reading your build and learned a lot and am impressed and excited to see more progress. Fun stuff. Thanks for sharing.

[chad64chevy]

looks great, I had trouble with the fittings too! took me a day or two before I got all the right fittings ordered and wrote them all down for later

[Modges'66]

Originally Posted by Ta2Don

Looking Great!!!

Thanks Don!
I was really struggling with the fact of hunting down several sets of used hoses in order to make a set that had the ends that I needed.
I wanted to have something appealing to the eye, and not too prone to leakage, or failure...
This is not something that I want to re-visit in the future, if that is possible?

Originally Posted by BWheels

I just spent the last 2 hours reading your build and learned a lot and am impressed and excited to see more progress. Fun stuff. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks a lot!
As you have probably noticed, I love working on this thing, but I am also determined to do it only once if possible.
I also like sharing what I think are good ideas & procedures to follow, so that others can have an example... If that is what they are looking for!

Originally Posted by chad64chevy

looks great, I had trouble with the fittings too! took me a day or two before I got all the right fittings ordered and wrote them all down for later

Dude,
I stood in front of a wall of fittings for what seemed like an eternity before I came up with these...
Funny thing, I was thinking about your hydro-boost/steering hoses as I drove to the parts store to get them!