67289
New member
You are correct...I have read a deal about it here as well as experience with cobbing our own shafts waaaay back when we raced hobby stock Mopars and 2 ton Ponticrackers on the 1/2 miler at Eldora. Pontiacs were easy to get power out of with a bottom end that could take most any abuse. We could out pull anything coming out of the turns, but that 800 pound hunk of iron didn't like turning left despite us shortening the wheelbase on that side of the car. We became "Chief Wall Testers". The concrete was AOK at Eldora!
Anyway, I mentioned (and you can just see it on top of the shaft in the last pic) that I painted a yellow line along the full length of the shaft. It correlates with the orientation of the universal joint "ear" that is on the forward end of the shaft. The red "balance" spot that is painted on the splined portion of the forward universal joint is 90 degrees anti-clockwise (when looking forward) from this yellow line. Not sure why that would be of any importance but there it is! Also, the yellow line will help to indicate if ever the torsional damper (the rubber bonding that joins the large outer tube to the smaller inner tube) should fail and allow the two portions to "un-clock".
Regarding phasing: I was aware of the matter when I disassembled the final drive so was very careful to note the orientation of things. As can be seen that drive has never been apart, that is evident. I KNOW that this shaft was NOT phased from the factory. It was at least 30* clocked out. I have and older FACTORY manual here. Do not even know where I got it. It is not a reprint or Haynes or Clymer. It is a BMW publication. It mentions nothing of phasing upon installation. Oversight? Perhaps. Is it irrelevant? I don't know. I'll play it safe and clock it correctly or as close as possible. I will find out how difficult that task is...soon. I hope!
Anyway, I mentioned (and you can just see it on top of the shaft in the last pic) that I painted a yellow line along the full length of the shaft. It correlates with the orientation of the universal joint "ear" that is on the forward end of the shaft. The red "balance" spot that is painted on the splined portion of the forward universal joint is 90 degrees anti-clockwise (when looking forward) from this yellow line. Not sure why that would be of any importance but there it is! Also, the yellow line will help to indicate if ever the torsional damper (the rubber bonding that joins the large outer tube to the smaller inner tube) should fail and allow the two portions to "un-clock".
Regarding phasing: I was aware of the matter when I disassembled the final drive so was very careful to note the orientation of things. As can be seen that drive has never been apart, that is evident. I KNOW that this shaft was NOT phased from the factory. It was at least 30* clocked out. I have and older FACTORY manual here. Do not even know where I got it. It is not a reprint or Haynes or Clymer. It is a BMW publication. It mentions nothing of phasing upon installation. Oversight? Perhaps. Is it irrelevant? I don't know. I'll play it safe and clock it correctly or as close as possible. I will find out how difficult that task is...soon. I hope!