Roxanne - budget milano/75 track car

[geh458]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AR4me .....Gifford, did you jinx Roxanne? Jes

[gday]

Your helmet's got a face shield, right? What do ya need a windshield for? Have you seen mine? No? Me either.
Come on Gifford....it's not too late. The essex house still has rooms.

[AR4me]

Quote:

If I can't participate in the AROSC school, nobody can.

[junglejustice]

Jes!

Very important: Answer me this -

1) Is the front drive-shaft section thicker or thinner than the rear/is the rear section of a larger or lesser diameter than the front?
2) Do you have a fixed front coupler section (just behind the forward GUIBO), or do you have the older-style adjustable/splined coupler with the pinch-bolt?

The one style drive-shaft has a thicker front and thinner rear section and the other has the thinner front and thicker rear sections.

The one uses the adjustable coupler with the pinch-bolt up front and the other doesn't.

And then, as you already know, the one uses the thicker center donut that looks more like a "real" donut (like the forward and rear units) and the other uses the thinner one that looks like a kid cut it out of a truck tire...

3) Last question, relative to - what? - does the balancing shop feel the section/bearing/fitment is too short or too long...? What is their point of reference other than having done them before - what do they see? They may have had the correct sh!t all along but just had never seen one of the "adjustable" shafts or something...?

Keep in mind that if you do have the adjustable type unit, you have to leave the pinch-bolt semi "UN-torque'd" - you drive the car SLOWLY around the block a bit and then come in and tighten the bolt WITH THE WHEELS ON THE GROUND AND THE SUSPENSION LOADED!

Sorry that you are going through this buddy! I know that it is a great deal MORE work however, worst comes to worst, I ship you down one of my (our) spare shafts up here over-night so that you can at least make the event... You have put so much work in to preparing for it; would hate to see you miss out... Buzz me!

[AR4me]

Ok, got it sorted. My suspicion was correct: The center swivel bushing had not engaged properly and was hung up. Well, WENCO didn't really do anything except balancing it. Though, Mike was proactive in trying to solve it. Anyway, all good now

Yeah, JJ, know about the pinch bolt. Though, I cannot get under this thing with the wheels on the ground. I'll find a high curb.

BTW, this is the driveshaft with the pinch bolt and the skinny center coupling - 87 milano.

Today we are welding up the sunroof and putting the driveshaft etc back in. Also got to lower the front a bit more, and we have to shim the upper control arm two-piece poly bushing as it is sliding out... (like Greg G has shown on his site).

Jes

[AR4me]

Ok, we welded up the sunroof. Just need the bondo to fill and it is all done. Some pics below:
1. Prepping the opening
2. Grinding off the paint
3. Test fit
4. Colin welding it
5. All done (except for final bondo)

Jes

[geh458]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AR4me Where is the "WHAHAHAHAAAAA"? Good, I still didn't reserve mine. What's the alternative place right there in Rosamond that some (incl you, Gifford?) use? Jes

[inhistoryclass]

jes i think you should paint your car before you bring it out there, give it some pizaz.

maybe a skull on the hood and a couple of racing stripes, aeh?

[AR4me]

Thanks Gifford!

Sam, unfortunately no time for cosmetics before the school - it will be ugly.

So, this evening I put the rebuild and rebalanced driveshaft back in. I was not looking forward to doing this rolling around the garage floor. But, as it turns out it wasn't bad at all.

1. Undo rear engine mount.
2. Put jack under Dedion and undo cross member bolts - don't lower yet.
3. If you have driveshaft with pinch bolt release pinch bolt, pull front coupling with section with pinch bolt off drive shaft.
4. Bolt that front section onto fly wheel - don't torque yet. You need to pull the rear of the engine down a tad for it to pass - pulling with one hand did it.
5. On the floor I used two smaller jack stands to support the driveshaft at an angle and slide it in (pic 1, 2). Watch that the front swivel bushing engages and align the splins. With a little wiggle it will go in smoothly.
6. Lower transaxle until rear coupling and clutch fork clears. I then gradually raise the transaxle with the jack and the driveshaft with the jack stand (pic 3, 4).
7. Bolt them together (pic 5) - loosely.
8. I then put the two bolts for the center support on loosely (pic 6).
9. I bolted the rear engine mount back on.
10. Bolted the Dedion cross member back on and removed jack from front of Dedion.
11. Jacked up the rear of the Dedion enough for the rear suspension to compress, and just lift the car a tad off the rear jack stands.
12. With engine and transaxle in "street load" I torqued front and rear coupling and bolted center support. Note that I still left the pinch bolt loose!

So, I could basically fire the engine up, but out of consideration to the neighbors I will wait until I have the exhaust back on

Tomorrow morning I plan to put the shift linkage back in, mount exhaust start up the engine, and torque pinch bolt after running the engine up and down a bit. Very curious to see how well the driveshaft is balanced - an out of balance driveshaft would be a show stopper for the race school next weekend

Jes

[AR4me]

Here is the 6th pic (only 5 per post). Anyway, the driveshaft install was quite simple even rolling around the garage floor. Remember to only turn the engine clockwise (seen from the front) when rotating it with the 41 mm socket on the cranksshaft nut in order to access the various bolts for torque.

Oh, before putting the driveshaft back in I weighed it, for whatever its worth. Complete driveshaft: 27 lbs. Since the exhaust was on the ground right next to the driveshaft it went on the scale as well. Stock milano center section: 17 lbs, stock milano rear section: 21 lbs.

Jes

[inhistoryclass]

why did you decide to rebalance the driveshaft, was it causing problems?

ugly is relative, spray paint dries quick.

[AR4me]

I rebuilt the driveshaft as part of overhauling everything on the car (in order to get a reliable track/race car). It had a slight vibration around 2500-2700 RPM and since all old couplings were complete (=not a missing rubber chunk causing the vibration), I had to balance it.
Jes

[gday]

How do you know when you make too much money?

When Ralph Lauren makes your "welding shirt".

And how could it be ugly? It's an Alfa! Painted or not, it's still very cool.

I especially like the 48 bottles of Heineken in the background, ready to fix your welders-mouth.

[AR4me]

Ok, made some progress today. I put the drive train all back together.
1. Put on the shift linkage rod
2. Put on the center cross member
3. Put on the heat shield
4. Spent quite a bit of time getting the exhaust fitted - just hate dealing with older exhausts Oh well, got it on well
5. Took off the metal straps on the front and rear couplings
6. Fired up the car for the first time after re-doing all the mounts, bushings, driveshaft, rebuilding shift linkage,...
7. As I have the seat out I couldn't drive it and get a better feel for the balance of the driveshaft. I still have the pinch bolt loose.

Anyway, the car moved out of the garage on own power for the 1st time in a while. The shifter feels transformed after the rebuild with the monkey shifter kit.

The reason for still having the seat out is the pending bondo, sanding, + prime & paint of the sunroof section. So, with the car in the driveway I put on the first layer of bondo.

Jes

[AR4me]

While the bondo was hardening I went on to install a coolant catch tank. The older style coolant bottle cap from the 164 (with the nipple) conveniently fits on the thread of the milano overflow bottle. From there it is just a matter of a hose to a suitable tank/bottle - at the suggestion of Colin I simply use a water bottle as catch tank, transparent so you can easily monitor. See pics.
Jes