[Fot] Spitfire driveline vibrations

[Tim Pettenati]

Jim,

The PO of my spit told me of a similar problem he had with the car.  He
went through the same attempted fixes, balancing the tires, replacing the
u-joints, having the driveshaft balanced.  The final cure was replacing the
driveshaft.  I'm not positive but I think the new shaft is fixed length, where
as the old one was a slip joint.  I'll take a look under the car tonight and
let you know for sure.

My old Haynes manual shows both types of driveshaft,
the 'frictionless'  (slip joint) and the solid propeller shaft.  I'm not sure
I understand the need for a slip joint with a fixed rear diff.  Here is what
is listed for lengths of the different shafts.  Just in case you decide to try
a fixed length shaft.

BRD solid            41.62" (105.72 cm)
BRD
frictionless    41.37" (105.09 cm)
BRD frictionless    38.00" (96.52 cm)
(w/
overdrive)   

Cheers,
Tim

----- Original Message ----
From: Norlin
Engineering <norlinengineering at comcast.net>
To: FOT at autox.team.net
Sent: Thu,
April 1, 2010 7:39:45 PM
Subject: [Fot] Spitfire driveline vibrations
Friends:

Still having vibration issues with the driveshaft.  Showed up on the
chassis
dyno and at the track.  I've had the rear wheels rebalanced, so it
sort of
points to the driveline.  Starts around 6 grand in 4th and doesn't
really
get worse with speed.

The driveline repair shop and I both feel it's
in the slip joint.  I noticed
some radial play in the joint before removing
the shaft from the car to take
it into the shop.  Once removed, it's almost
undetectable.

The shop has not disassembled the slip joint yet, but they
suspect that the
shaft was disassembled at one time and some of the rollers
were left out
when it was reassembled.

Which brings me to my question.  I've
searched the regular parts sites and
no one even mentions these rollers.  The
factory manual from the '60's says
do not disassemble this part on pain of
death - more or less.

Does any one have any of these rollers from an old
shaft, or know where they
might be sourced?

Thanks all

Jim Norlin
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