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Driveshaft spacer fabrication questions

A

AdmiralSenn

New member
Joined
Jan 2, 2007
Location
Vero Beach
Hey all. I'm working out the last few bits of my M90 swap in my 740. I have been unable to find an M90 prop shaft or a shop who can modify an M46/7 prop shaft without shipping it to California or waiting longer than a month. This area SUCKS for car people.

I found this page: http://www.volvoturbo.net/Garagebilder 23.html which tells me that my next idea of a spacer is at least possible.

I'm going to draw this up and take it to the local fabricator but is there any particular type of steel I should tell him to use? Would regular mild steel hold up or should I use something more exotic? This setup will stop getting upgraded at around 300hp.

Thanks!
 
You're telling me there are no driveshaft shops in Florida?
 
why not forged aluminium? I think it is used for wheel spacers as well. It will be cheaper to machine. and it will be lighter.
 
I would use aluminum for that spacer. No need to go with steel and have it rust over the year. I would try to have it a little less thicker than what he did and maybe use flat head bolt that stay screwed in the adapter.

I did this adapter for Nathan, different purpose but same way of thinking.

 
740atl said:
You're telling me there are no driveshaft shops in Florida?
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Of course not. I'm telling you that there's only one that's less than an hour's drive from me, they couldn't do it (no tooling for the propshaft end) and he didn't know any others that could. Then I called around and every time I said 'Volvo' they said 'nope!'.

If I find one it's likely to be in Orlando and that means I have to spend 2 hours driving there and 2 hours back, then do it again when they finish the work. Or pay to mail the thing to them and have them mail it back, which I doubt will be much cheaper.


Janspeed said:
why not forged aluminium? I think it is used for wheel spacers as well. It will be cheaper to machine. and it will be lighter.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll see about doing it that way.

Roger-Dee said:
I would use aluminum for that spacer. No need to go with steel and have it rust over the year. I would try to have it a little less thicker than what he did and maybe use flat head bolt that stay screwed in the adapter.

I did this adapter for Nathan, different purpose but same way of thinking.
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Cool! I'll see if I can get a quote next week then.
 
AdmiralSenn said:
Of course not. I'm telling you that there's only one that's less than an hour's drive from me, they couldn't do it (no tooling for the propshaft end) and he didn't know any others that could. Then I called around and every time I said 'Volvo' they said 'nope!'.

If I find one it's likely to be in Orlando and that means I have to spend 2 hours driving there and 2 hours back, then do it again when they finish the work. Or pay to mail the thing to them and have them mail it back, which I doubt will be much cheaper.
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Do you want some cheese with that whine?:-P

Lengthening a driveshaft is not rocket science. Just don't tell the shops what it's from.
 
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I'm fully aware. All I can tell you is that none of the shops around here will even look at it. Having a 9 to 5 job means I can't just go driving halfway across the state without a good reason.

I didn't expect this to be such a pain in the ass either, but it is what it is. I've spent the better part of a week making phone calls trying to figure out why there don't seem to be any competent shops around here. Every transmission shop and automotive performance shop I've spoken to has confirmed that they don't know anyone capable of working on Volvo drivelines.

I appreciate your help though.
 
AdmiralSenn said:
I'm fully aware. All I can tell you is that none of the shops around here will even look at it. Having a 9 to 5 job means I can't just go driving halfway across the state without a good reason.

I didn't expect this to be such a pain in the ass either, but it is what it is. I've spent the better part of a week making phone calls trying to figure out why there don't seem to be any competent shops around here. Every transmission shop and automotive performance shop I've spoken to has confirmed that they don't know anyone capable of working on Volvo drivelines.

I appreciate your help though.
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:nod:

They hear the word Volvo and know it's some cheap F****r with a problem they'll lose money on and have to listen to whining when it's done
 
Call up the local shop, ask for the manager when you get told they can't retube a Volvo shaft. Ask him what is so different between a steel shaft on a Volvo and a steel shaft on (insert your favorite non-Volvo RWD car here). There ain't a difference.

Personally I'd go that route, but if they won't do it, yeah, go the alum. route.
 
gsellstr said:
Call up the local shop, ask for the manager when you get told they can't retube a Volvo shaft. Ask him what is so different between a steel shaft on a Volvo and a steel shaft on (insert your favorite non-Volvo RWD car here). There ain't a difference.

Personally I'd go that route, but if they won't do it, yeah, go the alum. route.
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The owner of the shop told me that they don't have the tooling to attach to the prop end, which is the part I need lengthened. Then he told me that 'nobody' has the tooling for it, except this one place in California. That part is obviously untrue, but the question remains of who DOES have it.

I'm working on a place that does a lot of European performance stuff but I haven't been able to reach them all week. Looks like I'm going to own a big chunk of aluminum soon.
 
Wow, that manager needs to be taught how the real world works. Just curious what shop they referred you to? Driveline Specialties by any chance? If it's some other shop then hey, I guess we have 2 here in Cali. lol

Best of luck man, sucks the shops there are idiots.

FWIW I called 4 machine shops for a basic bore and hone on my 230FT block. They were fine until I said Volvo, then came the 'we don't do Volvo's'. 5th shop said no problem, a block is a block, boring and honing is boring and honing, doesn't matter if it's european cast iron or american. Bingo, that's the shop I've had great luck with. Similar experience with getting a diff installed years back. All was fine til I said Volvo. Dana 30, sure no problem, in a Volvo? Nope can't do it. Idiots.
 
Sounds the like shop doesn't want to fab anything to make it work. If they took the time to make the tooling they won't have to say no the next time

Can you lengthen the rear driveshaft and repo the carrier bearing?

That alum adapter roger made me is fitted in a BMW with a 700whp 1j and he launches the car at 10psi on drag radials at the strip around 4k in a manual car
 
Some engine machine shops will weld and rebalance driveshafts.
I'm not sure why it's such a big issue. The driveshaft ends are welded between centers to keep them aligned. Any machine shop can do this, but a machined chunk of aluminum may be cheaper.
 
We have the same type of shops in MA. No one wants to be responsible if (when) the custom piece fails and then get hit with a lawsuit.

Funny how everyone think it's so easy to find shops that do this type of work in every state.
 
AdmiralSenn said:
Every transmission shop and automotive performance shop I've spoken to has confirmed that they don't know anyone capable of working on Volvo drivelines.
Click to expand...

when i was still wrenching on rally cars we had a volvo driveshaft shortened/lengthened (forgot) by a shop that does this kind of work for farm equipement, earth moving equipement and trucks. They had no issue whatsoever. did a fine job to.
 
Janspeed said:
when i was still wrenching on rally cars we had a volvo driveshaft shortened/lengthened (forgot) by a shop that does this kind of work for farm equipement, earth moving equipement and trucks. They had no issue whatsoever. did a fine job to.
Click to expand...

There is a machine shop that does this locally, but they won't touch automotive applications. Lots of marine shops and tractor shops will tackle it but they won't work on cars.

And the ones that do are apparently Swedophobic.
 
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