Drive and half shaft restoration , 1963

[Jim C.]

Anyone recommend a vendor that possibly refinishes these for judging ?

[Harry S.]

Re: Drive and half shaft restoration , 1963

Jim, the drive and half shafts on my 63 were badly pitted. I thought long and hard about having them restored. The process was to cut the ends off, install new pipe, weld back together and apply an appropriate finish. The cost was over the top. I looked at the points allotted to that area and decided it was not worth the restoration costs. I bought a new set and lost 1 point as I recall.

[Jim C.]

Re: Drive and half shaft restoration , 1963

Jim, the drive and half shafts on my 63 were badly pitted. I thought long and hard about having them restored. The process was to cut the ends off, install new pipe, weld back together and apply an appropriate finish. The cost was over the top. I looked at the points allotted to that area and decided it was not worth the restoration costs. I bought a new set and lost 1 point as I recall.

Where did you get them ?

[Harry S.]

Re: Drive and half shaft restoration , 1963

From LIC. But call around and let's see who else chimes in.

Good luck

[Michael W.]

Re: Drive and half shaft restoration , 1963

I thought the drive and half shaft surfaces were subject to black out during chassis assembly?

[Bob J.]

Re: Drive and half shaft restoration , 1963

I thought the drive and half shaft surfaces were subject to black out during chassis assembly?

They do have black out.......... but what does that have to do with the judging of 63 or 64?

[Gene M.]

Re: Drive and half shaft restoration , 1963

Jim, the drive and half shafts on my 63 were badly pitted. I thought long and hard about having them restored. The process was to cut the ends off, install new pipe, weld back together and apply an appropriate finish. The cost was over the top. I looked at the points allotted to that area and decided it was not worth the restoration costs. I bought a new set and lost 1 point as I recall.

Harry, you made a wise choice. The only loss as I can see is the tube type. The originals were a longitudinal drawn with a seam. Seamless drawn tube today are far superior to originals. This minor appearance difference of no visible seam is about the only thing that determines the drive shaft and half shafts are not original. Original tube material grain is lengthwise not circular. The absence of pitting is a plus for condition. But generally the replacements are of a brighter surface finish absent on the originals. One point might be a bit light but surely no more than two points for material type and finish.

Seamed tube could be hard to come by. Restored originals would most likely use modern welded in tube so what is the benefit? Restored originals using the existing tube require elimination of pits..... Fill them, Turn the diameter, plate or paint finish would also yield deductions.

[Edward J.]

Re: Drive and half shaft restoration , 1963

Bob, the black out is still a debate for 63/64, most of the judges are following the current JM. but I trust that either way is okay as far as I am concerned.

[Joe L.]

Re: Drive and half shaft restoration , 1963

Harry, you made a wise choice. The only loss as I can see is the tube type. The originals were a longitudinal drawn with a seam. Seamless drawn tube today are far superior to originals. This minor appearance difference of no visible seam is about the only thing that determines the drive shaft and half shafts are not original. Original tube material grain is lengthwise not circular. The absence of pitting is a plus for condition. But generally the replacements are of a brighter surface finish absent on the originals. One point might be a bit light but surely no more than two points for material type and finish.

Seamed tube could be hard to come by. Restored originals would most likely use modern welded in tube so what is the benefit? Restored originals using the existing tube require elimination of pits..... Fill them, Turn the diameter, plate or paint finish would also yield deductions.

Gene and Harry------


I would never attempt to re-use badly pitted driveshaft or half shafts whether the pits were filled, or not. Pitting weakens the tube and filling of the pits does absolutely nothing to restore strength---it's purely cosmetic. New shaft assemblies are the way to go.

[Mark D.]

Re: Drive and half shaft restoration , 1963

Bob, the black out is still a debate for 63/64...

Yeah, Bob...get with the program:-))

Kramden

[Bob J.]

Re: Drive and half shaft restoration , 1963

Yeah, Bob...get with the program:-))

Kramden

Kramden, buy a 63 and YOU can join this "debate"........proof and logic not required.

[Jim C.]

Re: Drive and half shaft restoration , 1963

Well, my shafts were mostly just rusty and discolored. Looked like new ones would cost twice, including shipping, as refinishing my originals. That said off they went to Quanta for the next 2-4 weeks. I'll post a pic of what I get back . Thanks for the input.

[Paul S.]

Re: Drive and half shaft restoration , 1963

quanta does a beautiful job. have had several sets done by them. you won't be disappointed

[Donald H.]

Re: Drive and half shaft restoration , 1963

quanta does a beautiful job. have had several sets done by them. you won't be disappointed

Do you know how Quanta restored drive/half shafts do in judging? I need to do my 66.

Thanks,
Don

[Michael W.]

Re: Drive and half shaft restoration , 1963

Do you know how Quanta restored drive/half shafts do in judging? I need to do my 66.

Thanks,
Don

The entire driveshaft and halfshaft assemblies are assigned 5 originality and 5 condition points total. That's not many points for quite a bit of hardware. Original hardware might get docked a point for surface pitting.

If the repro shaft material doesn't quite look like the originals, then probably a point would be lost there. No net gain, plus keeping the shiny fresh appearance of the new shafts is not easy.

This is a moot point on 63/64 cars as the shafts were covered in blackout.