Ryan Weaver's 1969 Olds Cutlass S W31 Club Coupe

[Lynn]

Hello Ryan. I seldom comment on your thread, but have continued to follow religiously. I don't know that there would have been even one thing I would have done differently. Great choices all the way through to the current day; including the drive down the gravel road. You and your family are what this hobby SHOULD be about. It is the classic car hobby at its very best.

I feel your pain on the gravel road story. Not to hijack, but in Sept. 2015, my daughter got married at the chapel across the street from our home in downtown Gutthrie. We had the reception at our place (about 80 people). I took her and my son in law to their honeymoon destination in my 1964 Vanden Plas Princess (antique looking rh drive British limo). I spent a day and a half making the old Princess look the part. I had no idea the honeymoon destination was down three miles of gravel / red dirt roads! What a mess? However, no regrets. i would do it again in a heartbeat.

Here she is sitting out in front of our "house" (we live in a converted Livery Stable) after I got her cleaned up again.

[Ryan1969Chevelle]

Originally Posted by Lynn

Hello Ryan. I seldom comment on your thread, but have continued to follow religiously. I don't know that there would have been even one thing I would have done differently. Great choices all the way through to the current day; including the drive down the gravel road. You and your family are what this hobby SHOULD be about. It is the classic car hobby at its very best.

I feel your pain on the gravel road story. Not to hijack, but in Sept. 2015, my daughter got married at the chapel across the street from our home in downtown Gutthrie. We had the reception at our place (about 80 people). I took her and my son in law to their honeymoon destination in my 1964 Vanden Plas Princess (antique looking rh drive British limo). I spent a day and a half making the old Princess look the part. I had no idea the honeymoon destination was down three miles of gravel / red dirt roads! What a mess? However, no regrets. i would do it again in a heartbeat.

Here she is sitting out in front of our "house" (we live in a converted Livery Stable) after I got her cleaned up again.

Lynn,
I so appreciate this commentary!! I had to make decisions at every step and to show off the good the bad and the ugly was always a choice..... (for example... the metal replacement behind the rear wheels could have easily been left on the cutting room floor) for someone experienced like yourself to like my curved torturous path just makes me happy!!

I love your limo, it would really show off red mud and gravel dust :-)

It was so nice to meet a couple years ago, hope we get to cross paths again soon.

Ryan W31

PS: a wonderful story exactly on the conversation topic is not thread stealing!!

[Lynn]

Hope to see you and your son again as well. Hey, compared to some of the talent on this site, I am just a hack. But I have fun doing it.

[Ryan1969Chevelle]

Status:

Shake, Rattle and Roll....

The car has a shake, I hope it relates to the driveshaft. I have a new one built but need to shorten the slip yoke and possibly shorten the driveshaft.... I will measure and move ahead this week.

The shifter ter is not happy. I can get it into some gears some of the time but I need to get this sorted out before any spirited vroom vrooms.

Funny sound.... I have a feeling the sound I am hearing is an exhaust leak. I catastrophize naturally so I need to get this under wraps shortly.

Fuel mileage.... it seems to enjoy fuel :-)

Some lights need to be replaced/fixed. Dome light, dash lights, etc.

Brakes take a little (lot) of getting used to. They function as intended as far as I can tell. After Prom I had the opportunity to test them, a dingbat pulled out in front of me and I locked it up. I was impressed the car stopped quick enough for me to share a single finger communication and drive around said dingbat. I shared a verbal communication but the windows were up.... I am confident my message was clear.

Odds and ends, of course there are lots of other items to sort out over time but these are the hot topics.

Ryan W31

[Ryan1969Chevelle]

Driveshaft part deux... shortened up the slip yoke some. Had some little spigots made up so I can measure the driveshaft by myself. One end has a slot for the measuring tape and one end has a point to measure too. (Pretty snazzy) after careful measuring and remeasuring I am confident the DS is too long. On various sites I have seen that one inch of travel is needed and I have zero. 56 inches center to center with the yoke pushed all the way in till it bottoms out in the trans and the DS measures 56 inches. I will have it shortened. Now the tricky part...... I want to be able to use a Chevy rear as well as an Olds rear... by memory the Chevy rear Center of the yoke is closer to the trans than the Olds rear. (Tough to explain....) in summary I think I can have the DS shortened 2 inches and it will be good for Olds 3R or in future if I install a 1350 yoke in an Olds rear or in future if I install a Chevy rear with a 1350 u joint.....


Ryan W31

[Lynn]

Ryan: Nice little spigots for measuring.

Are you sure you want to shorten it 2 full inches? I can't imagine that you would even be able to get it installed (and apparently you did, or you wouldn't be talking about a driveline vibration) if it were two inches too long.

Did you measure free play on the slip yoke with the drive shaft installed and the car resting on all four wheels? If you are at zero, I would think taking off one inch would get you your one inch of free travel. Hate to see you have it shortened TOO much.

What I see in the first pic looks like you still have about a 1/4 inch free play. That would mean only shortening the DS by 3/4 inch. I know sometimes it is hard to explain and show with pics over the web.

Also, do you know the difference in the distance from back of the trans to the Olds rear as opposed to the Chevy rear? If it is more that 1/2 inch, you might need different driveshafts for each rear.

[Ryan1969Chevelle]

Hi Lynn, I know why this post is confusing..... I posted part 2 but not part 1.

Part 1:

I am sorting out the driveshaft this week. The new heavy duty unit is made with 3.5” OD 0.084” wall thickness tube (steel so it is PSMCDR compliant) 1350 U joints, (the rear u joint is half 1350, half 3R) Spicer 27 spline slip yoke. The DS is the same length as original but the SL is much bigger in a few directions and the SL shaft has a step that the original didn’t have..... maybe the DS is too long.... I knew I have to shorten the SL so that should be step one then I can get proper measurements.

I added some measurements of inside the SL and how far the trans output shaft sticks out the back of the trans.

Ryan W31

PS: I installed the original for prom as the new HD DS looked too long, now I am getting this sorted out.

[Lynn]

Makes more sense now. Just didn't want you to get it too short. Easy to shorten.

[Ryan1969Chevelle]

Originally Posted by Lynn

Makes more sense now. Just didn't want you to get it too short. Easy to shorten.

I now know lots about driveshafts :-) learning is fun!!

Ryan W31

PS:

Driveshaft part 3, I supported the frame and let the rear suspension hang down. I then remeasured centre to centre and see 55 5/16”, when the rear suspension was up (supported on jack sands) the measurement was 56”. I will drop off the DS after work one day next week and take this item off the punch list.

[Ryan1969Chevelle]

Every inch is a mile.

Got my driveshaft back tonight shortened by one inch.
It is perfect now as I could just install it at full droop and easily (relative term as this DS is a brute) install with rear suspension up.

This went so well I proceeded to start fitting my driveshaft loop..... moved the exhaust clamps on the X pipe.... that helped.... and I have a plan to bend the flat bottom piece up slightly and tilt the circle more to the same angle as the DS... I need a little more room at the top of the circle.... (I would say progressive progressioning..... close to progress)

Ryan W31