Question on Spider & GTV drive shaft re-use

tdskip said:

I have Spider driveshafts coming out of my ears (don't ask) and wanted to confirm that I could use a 2.0L Spider front shaft with the 1300 Junior rear shaft.

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That will work with one "gotcha". All front driveshafts are the same length, and the bearings are the same, so it will fit OK.

The gotcha is that Alfa increased the diameter of the four flange bolts (both F and R) from 8mm to 9mm between the 1750 and 2L series. So the holes at the back of your front driveshaft flange will be 9mm, while those at the front of your rear driveshaft will be 8mm.

Using 8mm bolts in 9mm holes is not a good practice. A better solution would be to use a U-joint flange from a 2L driveshaft at the front of your 1300 Junior rear shaft.

tdskip said:

Could I simply take the yoke off the 2.0L driveshaft here (on the left) and call that done for the front?

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What do you mean by the "yoke"? Do you mean that whole assembly (front flange, U-joint, "Y" shaped thing behind the U-joint) that has female splines and is attached by that threaded collar that looks like a bottle cap? Yea, you could just swap those parts. I would have suggested that, but you said you were replacing the U joints, so I figured while you had things apart, you would just replace the front flange.

I was surprised at how much thinner and longer the driveshaft from the Junior (on the right) is compared to the 2.0L Spider one (on the left).

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Spiders had shorter wheelbases, so their driveshafts had to be shorter. Alfa did make the shafts chubbier when they went to the "big block" (e.g., the 2L's). I've got a skinny driveshaft in my Sprint mated to a 2L and it hasn't failed yet.

Yes, that I what I meant by "yoke". Sorry for not being clear.

Hey, less rotating mass is better so long as it is strong enough, right? Grin.

Thanks!