[Josue]

Thanks for chiming in!

I was going to call a local driveline shop on Monday, but I'm not optimistic about what they'll have to say. Every single time their name gets brought up for services, the first thing out of people's mouths are "Well, there's Henderson, but they're really expensive!"

I did some digging around on other sites, and someone said the 2nd gen F-body driveshaft is a direct bolt in for this swap...correct length and everything. Could be an inexpensive option if true!

[limejudge69]

You just need to measure and see what you need. Use Diagram "B" in the link
http://www.dennysdriveshaft.com/how_to_measure.html

[Josue]

Called the driveline shop today, they said $125 to shorten and balance my OEM shaft, $300-ish for a brand new shaft using my transmission yoke, or $350-ish for a new shaft and a new yoke on there as well. They'd also use the correct u-joint, instead of the adapter joint.

We really don't have many options for this work around here, so this is probably where I'll have to go. The prices seem to be on par with what others have paid online, maybe a tad bit more, but the convenience of having a shop 20 mins from me do this would be worth it. I called another shop that's 2 hrs away, and they said a little less than $100 to shorten/balance my shaft, and $350-$400 for new...so they're definitely out.

[rtanner]

check out chevy s-10 driveshaft at the junk yard, pretty sure that's whats in my 69, larger in diameter and used same size ujoints as stock

[Josue]

Thanks for the tip!

The guy I talked to mentioned my stock one would only be good for HP in the mid-300's, and a custom one would be somewhere in the 500-600 range, but I doubt i'll get that high with this thing. As it is, I'll be lucky to have over 300 right now. Haha

[Squidward]

Congrats! I've been tuned in on other sections of the forums.

Just got my Nova 8.5 in last week.

As you discovered, your existing driveshaft needs to be shortened 1", but is worth a measurement. My 1st gen shaft with ST300/TH350 yoke measured at about 49 7/8" center to center. I had a leftover 2nd gen TH400 shaft that measured at about 47 7/8" or so. I measured the pinion yoke difference from axle center line, and the 8.2 BOP and 8.5 corporate were 1" different.

I went to a drive shaft shop locally, and had them shorten the 2nd gen shaft to 48.75". They put new slip yoke on since my original was a little beat up, and that yoke was a touch longer (deeper) than my previous yoke. As a result, they made it 48.5" center to center thinking that my measurement assumed I was bottomed out.

End result is that I have 1.25" from full insertion. I'm ok with that.

So, as a summary: A 2nd gen TH350 shaft should fit perfectly. But measure anyways in case somebody swapped in a slip yoke with a longer snout. The last thing you want is to bottom out in the transmission.

U joints are the other part of the equation. My 73 Nova rear end used 1310 u joints, and had the outer nib in the yoke that held the caps centered. My 67 FB driveshaft used u joints with the inside C clip (3RL?). My early 2nd gen shaft used 1310 joints (small cap, small width). I'm not sure when the 8.5's transitioned to different fatter u joint caps, but by the late 70's they were different (1330?). But as mentioned, conversion u joints will bridge the gap.

My ideal situation would have been to get a 2nd gen th350 shaft, but I could not find one in the 5th largest metropolitan area in the US.

[Josue]

So, would you agree that a 2nd Gen TH350 shaft would be a direct bolt in....u-joints and all? Or, would I still need an adapter joint?

I'll have to hit up the guy I bought my TH350 from, he has a warehouse full of 2nd gen parts, maybe he'd have one I could measure out and possibly buy.

My original driveshaft is in really good shape, so I'm sure it'd be fine to use, but something about me likes to keep all my original parts in tact. You just never know when it might come in handy down the road. We'll see...

[Squidward]

Originally Posted by Josue

So, would you agree that a 2nd Gen TH350 shaft would be a direct bolt in....u-joints and all? Or, would I still need an adapter joint?

I'll have to hit up the guy I bought my TH350 from, he has a warehouse full of 2nd gen parts, maybe he'd have one I could measure out and possibly buy.

My original driveshaft is in really good shape, so I'm sure it'd be fine to use, but something about me likes to keep all my original parts in tact. You just never know when it might come in handy down the road. We'll see...

I kept my original shaft, just in case I frag this rear end while I am racing.

I know from a TH400 to TH350 swap years ago in my 73 Formula that the early 2nd gen u joints were different than the late 2nd gen u joints. I used an 80 T/A driveshaft, and had to get an adapter joint to make the shaft fit the rear end. I can't remember exactly which one, but one was 1 1/16" cap (1310), and one was 1 1/8" cap.

With my rear end (73 Nova), an early 2nd gen TH350 shaft or TH350 Nova shaft would've been a direct fit.

http://www.driveshaftspecialist.com/...D%20Guide.html

Use that page to determine what fits your rear end (retention clips inside or outside the cap) and cap diameter. You might have choices in OH. I couldn't find any cheap options here.

[Josue]

I think I definitely want to keep my stock one in tact, so I'll just have to wait for a used one to hack up if need be, or wait for that early 2nd gen one. That guy didn't have any, but he gave me a lead on someone else with a ton of parts.

If I had one built, would interchangeability between TH350 and 2004R splines be as easy as a new yoke? I'd hate to have a custom shaft made for THIS specific TH350/Nova 8.5 swap, only to be stuck with it if it doesn't work with future plans, only being able to sell it to someone who wants the same swap...

[Squidward]

I've never done a 2004r, but from what I understand the yoke is the same, length is same, but maybe the crossmember is different. So I would think your shaft would cross over to a future 2004r swap.

[Josue]

Seems that would be the case.

I'll update when I get the rest of this settled!

[Josue]

Wound up finding someone about 4hrs away on a neighboring craigslist selling 2nd Gen F-body parts, he had a TH350 drive shaft listed in his ad, so I called him on a whim. I wasn't going to drive 8hrs for a $100 part, but to my surprise, he was willing to ship! $112 to my door...even with the work needed, still well under the cost of new custom, and I get to keep my original in tact.

The yoke is jacked though, so I'll likely buy new, unless these things are easy to clean up? Looked like something made a nest in there, causing moisture to sit and rust out the splines...



And, the u-joint is different, so I'll have to find out what adapter joint I need after all...

[Squidward]

My yoke that was in use was way more beat up, just not so much dirt.

Soak it and pressure wash it. As long as you get the munge out of the splines, it should be ok. And then just clean up the outer surface with scotchbrite or steel wool, nothing crazy. I think it is recoverable.

Try sitting it splines up, and spray a butt-ton of Purple Power in there. I used Purple Power, a wire brush and wheel, and a paint scraper to clean off 43 years of crud. Saved me money I could spend elsewhere.

What u joints does it have?

[Josue]

Yea, I'd definitely like to save some money with this! As expected, the overhaul I'm doing to the car is nickle and diming me to death....I'd like to tighten the belt if I can!

Not sure on the U-joint, I just know it's the wrong one though, too big to fit into the pinion yoke. I guess the way to verify which series I have is to simply measure it, correct?

Axle related, but how about drilling them out for larger studs? Does it need to be a "precise" job to where a shop needs to lock it down in machines and use fancy equipment? Or can a DIY'er knock it out at home holding it in his lap, with a hand drill?

It seems like I'd need to be a precise job, but at the same time, you're going to be pressing the new studs down to the shoulder anyway, which should end up flat/straight with the axle surface, so it wouldn't hurt if the holes aren't perfectly drilled?

[Josue]

Got some measurements on the u-joint.....1 1/8" on all 4 caps of the used drive shaft, and 1 1/16" on where the cap sits in the pinion of the new rear end.

Based off the chart on the link above, looks like a 1310 BC or 1330 BC Ford u-joint might be the answer? (of course I didn't think to get a width measurement to know which one yet) Is my line of thought correct?

[Josue]

Something like this? As long as the shaft side was larger, and the pinion side was smaller, so the snap rings go where they need to...

http://www.northerndrivetrain.com/pr...EA-1-4635.html

[Squidward]

Yes, something similar to that. Get the desired cap diameter, width, and retention style (inner or outer clips) for both ends, and you got it.

[Josue]

The u-joint on there now measures 3 5/8" wide for both axis', so looks like I need the bigger one....

http://www.summitracing.com/oh/parts...793x/overview/

I'm just apprehensive on which side is the larger side. By definition, I think these Ford Big Cap u-joints are bigger on the pinion side, which wouldn't work for me. Unless I'm overthinking this? I guess if I was able to use the outside snap rings, it wouldn't matter which side went where. But, if I had to use the inside snap rings, then I don't see how I could make that work? The current U-joint is one that's nylon injected, so until I take it out, I don't know if it has the groove in it for outside snap rings...

I'll just have to order this one up and see, or take a trip down to Summit (little over an hour from me) to check it out in person, I need to get some other stuff there anyway.

[Josue]

Eff...the pinion side on the new rear end is only a little under 3 1/4" wide, so looks like I'm still on the hunt. Why can't anything be easy!

On a side note, let that yoke soak in purple power for 2 days, and it cleaned up pretty good. I need to get into the teeth a little better though, it fits on the transmission shaft, but it would take some persuasion with a hammer to get it to seat all the way on...