Drive Shaft restoration
 

I've stripped and cleaned the 68 GTO driveshaft, checked it for run-out .. about .025" (bend run-out, not yoke run-out). No cracks, dent's etc.

Just to be sure ... the short narrowed neck goes toward the trans and the long narrowed section toward the rear correct?

What paint are you guys using?

Anything special I should know about installation? I noticed the assembly manual said in hard to read text what appeared to be .... mark the "light" side of the shaft and put that mark on the side of the yoke with most run-out. (diff end).

There is still a small weight attached ... not sure if that would be the light or heavy side.

Below my usual pictures of obscure markings.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...0&d=1588755048

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...1&d=1588755054

That scale rust can be scraped, then wire-brush to rea-attain blend.

I used Clearcoat! Semi-gloss. Also did re-add the color stripes back on 1 or 2 driveshafts, but only if you know for sure.

Keep ujoint bores clear o paint, petrol jelly them after paint.

This is a 'before' shot of my driveshaft. Paint strips were still very visible. Sanded it down and repainted the stripes. Used Rust-Oleum 'Rust Inhibitor' for coating and stored it in a sealed bag. No after pictures though.

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...1&d=1588776701

So I should shoot for a bare metal look.

Looks like I use 1 red band, 2 whites. (TH400)

What's the deal with the alignment marks? Should I still be able to find them on my original driveshaft and yokes?

The short narrow neck goes toward the trans?

I hope so.

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...6&d=1588806734

I couldn't find any alignment marks. Faded away in the last 52 years. And the mark on the axle input is gone too.
When the time comes I'm taking mine down to be checked and balanced.

http://forums.maxperformanceinc.com/...94#post6074594

Here’s a thread from last year with some info on drive shaft markings. I cleaned mine up on the wire wheel and then sprayed with Seymour’s Stainless Steel paint before adding the stripes.

If you want it to look correct don’t sand it. I used a 6” PVC pipe capped on one end and a threaded cap on the other. Degrease it drop it in and add Evaporust and cap it up. Next day take it out and use a scotchbrite pad to clean the loosened rust rinse it off and put it back in the tube. In a couple evenings it will look tremendously better and may only need polished with some 0000 steel wool. Use either Gibbs or RPM magic to keep it from flash rusting.

The sanding boat has sailed already :) And you are correct, not the right finish. I could wire wheel the whole thing and that would take it back to a natural metal look somewhat.

Too bad it won't fit in my cabinet ... fine glass bead would get it looking natural again, then maybe pickle it in some mild acid to darken it up.

I'm guessing I would indicate off the bearing caps to determine run-out at the yokes?

I'm using the original driveshaft, original trans and rear end .... never vibrated in the past so I assume there are no major problems, but it would be nice to have it clocked the way it came from the factory.

Great idea, but how much of the Evaporust did it take to fill that pipe!?!?!

My fault it was a 4" piece of schedule 40 I used. I don't think it took the whole gallon since the driveshaft takes up nearly the whole inside of PVC pipe. Here's a before when I degreased it and after a couple days in the evaporust.

Yep PVC is what I use for driveshafts, and fill with evaporust. Usually takes right at a gallon to fill.

If monitored carefully it'll bring back the stripes that weren't visible before due to the surface rust.

Here's one I did on one of the cars here. No stripes visible before treatment but after a day of monitoring they began to appear. Just have to be careful rinsing as it does make the paint "soft" so I let it dry a day after a light rinse and they harden right back up. Great way to restore or preserve a driveshaft as it retains it's proper color, and also retains the blueing from the welding process. Although there are ways to duplicate that too if you've already sandblasted or sanded the shaft.

Gotta love that stuff ... and seems like the prices have come down a little in the last couple of years.

Unfortunately I painted my driveshaft many years ago ... with good paint, brown for some reason.

I use the crap out of it. I have several 1 gallon jugs and then dad went and bought a 5 gallon bucket of it lol

I poor it back into the containers, it's usually good for 4-5 uses depending on how big the project is, before it becomes diluted to the point it doesn't work anymore. The weaker stuff works good on driveshafts like I did above because it's not too aggressive to completely remove the paint marks.

Had my driveshaft fine glass beaded and clear powdercoated a few years ago. Someone had painted it back throughout the years and wasn't able to find the stripes originally put on. After it was clear powdercoated, I taped up the areas I was going to put the stripes on and lightly scuffed them with a green scotch bright pad. Taped everything off again and rattle canned each of the stripes back on. Paint and powdercoating are still holding up after about 5 years of driving. I'll have to see if I still have a few pics of when I first did it. Four speed with white, green, and yellow stripes. Can't remember exactly where I got the measurements for the placement and width of the stripes, but it was throughout a few of the older posts here on the forum.

Does CLR do same thing as Evaporust?

CLR is acid based ... should do about the same thing, and a bit quicker. OK for a driveshaft but there are other things you wouldn't want to use it on as it's much harsher than Evaporust.

For that matter, even cheaper would be to get a gallon of muriatic acid and mix it about 10:1 with water. But that stuff can be dangerous in it's pure form. Easy to get at Home Depot etc.

Thank You

I would be concerned using an acid based product in case for some reason there’s a pin hole in a weld allowing the CLP to get inside the tube and you have no way to flush it out.

Good point, I'll check out all seams prior to cleaning.

Is there a reason why you don’t want to use Evaporust? I’ve used almost every product to remove rust and this is the safest best working product I’ve found.