Buford T Justice -- the full tour

[silver_bullet]

That's what friends are for Brian!! Great project!! I always wondered why GM ever went to the Shamu body style...
I like the box bodies...

[Mr4Speed]

Well shit Kris, that would require someone like you to have a brain and suggest it to me. Great idea!

Some days even a blind bear catches a fish.

[Blazerteam]

Some days even a blind bear catches a fish.

.

I have a suburban 3/4 on the Chevelle..some inches shorter though..

[82z]

A possible suggestion for a drive shaft would be muscle motorsports? They sold NASCAR takeoff parts and If I remember right driveshafts were only 50.$ish.

[Brian Lohnes]

This was a literal box of joy.

[silver_bullet]

That works....

[rightpedal]

This was a literal box of joy.

Do they mark it fragile just for Brian? Or is that on all the boxes? That there is a solid kid fort building box!

Steve

[andy30thz]

Still waiting for a call back from the local truck shop on having one made up. Just need a price. Denny's has an aluminum piece for like $450 but I'm not to the point of "needing" aluminum at this point. A new, thicker walled steel tube would be fine with me, if the price is reasonable.

Be just a little bit careful with the balance jobs you get from a truck shop...
Our local truck shop IS AWESOME and bend over backwards for my stupid car requests. But, their balance machine only goes to 3700rpm MAX. I chased my tail for an entire summer after swapping 4.10's into my 6sp LT1 camaro from a nasty drive line vibration. I bought two driveshafts (one stock steel LT1, one AL LS1) and had both balanced at our truck shop. I still had issues with both shafts.
I finally took a day and pulled the car appart piece by piece and ran it on jack stands, removing wheels/rotors/axleshafts/carrier and ultimately the driveshaft. (it was not a cormfortable feeling taking it up to 100mph with a slipyoke just stuck in the end of the trans...)
The vibration went away when either shaft was out.
I called Denny, he explained that factory shafts are not balanced much over 3000rpm and age/abuse also cause issues.
I had Denny build a new shaft out of steel and all my problems were solved. (balanced to 6000rpm)
If you can get something done for now super cheap, I'm all for it! But if you gonna get into 200 bucks for a "temporary" solution that might have vibration issues, it might be worth ponying up the bucks. And honestly...is Aluminium truly worth the cost in a car like this? Seems if you were really worried about rotational weight....you'd have more of a gain from wheel choice?

So sweet to hear its back on the road again!! How does it feel with the 700? Did it grow back the pair that got cut off? Can't wait to hear what you think after the cammed up road test!

[Beagle]

I was thinking about your driveshaft deal the other day and thinking about James' solution, NASCARP second hand only crashed once DS and cut ends to fit? I can't remember what he got but I think it was 3.5 or 4" shaft for pretty cheap.

Doesn't the Aerostar have an aluminum shaft? I saw one for 40.00 says is aluminum. I'd almost be tempted to go junkyard looking for a big aluminum shaft.

[Brian Lohnes]

With the power that the car is making now, it doesn't need an aluminum one and yeah, the wheels could be a little heavier....if they were made of depleted plutonium.

Good call on the speed of the spin balancing with regard to the truck shop. Didn't think about that, but it makes a whole lot of sense. The car certainly doesn't need an aluminum DS at this point but it would be there for the car to "grow" into, I guess. Guess I am hung up on it due to the issues of the past and not wanting to harm this fine new transmission.

Andy, it got its balls back (and then some) with the addition of the 700!

[Teddyzee]

Somewhat on topic, but Ford Rangers 1998 and newer have giant 4" aluminum drive shafts.

[Beagle]

Somewhat on topic, but Ford Rangers 1998 and newer have giant 4" aluminum drive shafts.

^^^ yes, is what I was asking. Thank you.

[Brian Lohnes]

When Dave Nutting and I hang out, tire wear is always an issue --- (Freaking killer photos and this is just a tease) -

[TheSilverBuick]

Looks plain mean

[Barry Donovan]

Looks plain mean

plain and mean


were driveshafts made to the engine stroke length? I do not know if thats a fairy tale.

4x4 will be as fat as can fit..even my old subaru has a fattie. ten speed only (my others were little).

now with diff locking 2 or 4wd..that would also go by a minimum/normal and need big.