Drive shaft lengths?

[fastmonkeywheel]

Ok, I have my original driveshaft from my 78 mustang, I had a 2.8V6 and C3 combo. I measured the length from Ujoint center to Ujoint center and got about 49". I now have a RAD-4 ( hopefully soon to be T-5 ) and a 2.3L (turbo'ed).

Does anyone know what length my drive shaft needs to be? I've been looking at the junk yards for one from a MII w/ 2.3 and RAD-4 but no such luck. I was wondering if there was another car that would work, before I fork over $80 to have mine cut and reballanced.

Also, if you don't know the length I need, what the best way to measure it? I started by putting the yolk all the way into the transmission and marked the drive shaft where the U-Joint should be. Do I have another inch hacked off of that? I'm really hoping I can find one at the junk yard today because I really, really want to see these rear tires turn on their own power.

 

[2muchtime]

yep you need to take the (yolk) and pull it out of the trans a bit..
put it right where the seal has been riding for years, mabye 2 inches.
im sure you can see what im talking about, if you have the yolk all the way in and then measure it, you will have problems, it will beat the tailshaft to death
everytime you get into the gas pedal and let off its gonna want to push the driveshaft forward into the tailshaft housing. besides that it will always drip fluid
out the seal.
you need to call the company that plans to cut the driveshaft ask em how to measure it (their way)..some one here could tell you the most common way
but it may not be to their specs or where they want you to measure it from.
dont ask anyone else how to measure it , ask the guy who is going to cut it for you.......he and he only can give you the correct directions...that is if you
dont want to buy another shaft because the measurements you gave him were to short.

 

[fastmonkeywheel]

Thank you very much. I'm going to give them a call on Monday.

 

[fastmonkeywheel]

I got my driveshaft back today. It's a perfect fit!! Yesterday I finally got a muffler on the car and put new fluid in the tranny. I actually saw the rear tires move tonight! Granted, the car was still on jack-stands, but still.

I also let it warm up a bit. It only got to about 140* because even with the garage door open the fumes were making me sick.

Shifting through the gears felt good. So many little things left though. I'm going to drop the gas tank again tomorrow to mount the battery.

I'm still looking for a dip stick and tube for a front sump 2.3 pan if anyone has one laying around.

 

[2muchtime]

thats good to hear, im glad everything worked out for you so far.
happy holidays and good luck with the rest of your project.