33 Coupe Chassis 29
7/18/03
This is a shot looking from the
outside of the car. This was a lot of work but should work. Remember
awhile back when I talked about the sway-bar being weaker? Well it is
but taking into account the fact that the new arm is shorter by about
3", which means the sway-bar will be stiffer. I decided to cut the
square into the sway-bar which reduces the size of it, which also means
how stiff it is. This bar is really just a spring if you think about it
so if the spring is smaller, it's also not as stiff which is why I made
it like this. The only thing I worry about is if the Aluminum arm takes
the stress and doesn't try to spin on the sway-bar. This is also why I
used a 1" thick piece of material so it would have a larger bearing
surface and then reducing the size down to 1/2" where it didn't
need as much strength. All this just for a larger tire.
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| 1/17/04
It was time to buy a driveshaft so that meant I
had to do some careful measuring. I bought mine through
Inland
Empire Driveline and they have a work sheet that you fill out that has numerous
dimensions on it. This makes it easy to figure out just what length
driveshaft you need. After filling out the work sheet, it was time to
order one. Now when buying a driveshaft, you have three choices of
material to choose from: Steel, Aluminum or Carbon Fiber. Steel is the
cheapest but weighs the most. Aluminum, weighs about 50% less than steel
but will cost you at least another "C note" more. Then there's
Carbon Fiber which is way out of my price range but weighs even less than the
aluminum one. I went with the aluminum piece which included the 3 1/2"
diameter shaft, both U-joints and transmission
yoke.
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Now because I have a 4L80E
transmission, the yoke is a little different but not by much. The yoke
for my trans is the same as a Turbo 400, which is a good thing because
there're strong but it had to be bored out. This had to be done to clear
a seal inside the transmission. Speaking of yokes, you have choices of
different materials here too. You can get one made out of aluminum,
which has less rotating weight and weighs less, or one made of of forged
steel. The yokes come in three different sizes, 1310, 1330 or 1350
Spicer series. I choose the steel 1350 series which is the strongest out
of the three. This means that the U-joint is the strongest too. Notice
the small square welded on the tube. There is one on each end for
balancing the whole assembly.
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This is how it looks when I bolted it
up. Now the center section isn't really a driveshaft hoop because it's
in the middle of the tube. A driveshaft hoop needs to be within six
inches of the front U-joint so this wouldn't pass NHRA tech inspection if I
were at the races. I guess it's time to make my own.
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