Drive Shaft Revisted

[Hector G.]

There was a recent discussion on this board regarding drive-shaft finishes. I've noticed in some restorations of C2s that the drive-shaft and half-shafts are painted what appears to be black. The NCRS judging guide states that they are natural finish steel tubes welded to natural forged steel yokes. My understanding of the recent discussion on this topic is that most, if not all people, agree with the JG. If not, would someone please clarify this issue.

The other issue I wanted to disuss is the use of shot-peened half-shafts. The photos I have attached are of the half-shaft and drive-shaft in my unrestored 66 vette. As you can see there is a dab of lime green on both shafts. The JG indicates that one would expect to find a dab of lime green on the half-shaft and yoke assembly of a BB car and makes no mention of the drive-shaft. According to Joe Lucia, the drive-shaft was not shot-peened. If so, what purpose does dabbing the drive-shaft with lime green serve? I was under the impression that it was placed there to identify it as a BB's shot-peened drive-shaft. Not being familiar with the difference between the look of a shot-peended and non shot-peened shaft, I am unable to tell whether the drive-shaft is shot-peened. I've not made a thorough comparison of the half-shafts and drive shaft to notice a difference between them. I believe they look the same and note that both appear and feel like they have a textured surface. Does anyone have any information on this topic?



Hector

[James W.]

Re: Drive Shaft Revisted

Hector,

We are in the middle of a '65, 396/425 hp chassis restoration. When disassembling and cleaning/degreasing the drive shaft, we found original indications of the same paint marks stripes near the front of the drive shaft as seen in your picture. The drive shaft on our '65 also has a lime green paint stripe about 2 to 3 inches in length and about 3/4 to 1 inch wide at the rear of the drive shaft starting at the weld joint. It appears that it was applied with a paint brush. We found no indication of the drive shaft or half shaft being painted when degreasing them. The drive shaft and half shafts have been restored per the description on the JG. Hope this helps.

Regards,

James West

[Hector G.]

Re: Drive Shaft Revisted

Thanks for the info James. I'll look at the rear portion of the drive-shaft and see if there are any additional marks. Do you know why the drive-shaft was marked with green paint and whether it is in fact shot-peened?

Hector

[John H.]

Re: Drive Shaft Revisted

The shot-peened BB half-shafts got the dab of green paint when they came out of the shot-peening operation to differentiate them from the otherwise identical SB half-shafts; without the paint, neither the manufacturing plant guys nor the assembly plant guys could tell them apart. BB and SB used the same drive shaft; it had a paint mark at the back end, to be aligned at assembly with the side of the companion flange on the diff that was also paint-marked, as shown in the A.I.M.

[Hector G.]

Re: Drive Shaft Revisted

Thanks John - The paint mark on my BB drive shaft is on the front end. I have not looked to see if a mark exists on the back end. If there isn't, does that mean the drive shaft is on backwards? Is it likely that the process was reversed in my case and alignment done on the front end?

[Brian M.]

Re: Drive Shaft Revisted

The paint marks on my 67 driveshaft were very close to center.

[Tim G.]

Re: Drive Shaft Revisted

Here's what I heard from Roby Price years ago when I asked him about the green and orange marks on the half shats of one of my cars. I don't know if this holds true, but it has seemed accurate on cars I've owned. Green indicated big block shafts, orange indicated a car with F41 suspension meaning the shafts were shot-peened. Can anyone help confirm or shoot down this theory?