Austin Spencer
Well-Known Member
I've got a 65 Dodge Dart GT Convertible that I'm working on. It's got a later 318, a 727 with a gearvendors unit on it, and I'm trying to get it all together and ironing out the details as I go.
Currently while pondering brakes I figured I'd check the angularity of everything and saw that I need to make some corrections. My transmission/gearvendors output shaft measures about 4.8 degrees downward, driveshaft is .7 degrees upward, and pinion angle is .8 degrees downward.
I was hoping to be able to get my output shaft angle a bit more level but nothing I seem to do other than jacking it up will change much. I've got some shims on my motor mounts since my engine and starter barely clear the drag link, and I took my motor mounts fully out to see if I could lower my engine enough that it influenced the angle but it hardly budged. It seems I'm stuck with that 4.8 degree downward angle, especially since gearvendors says not to put any kind of crossmember to support the unit.
I can get my pinion and output shaft more parallel by using some wedges on the rear end, but I'm still going to end up with at least a (4.8 + .7) degree angle difference from output shaft to driveshaft and driveshaft to pinion, which I know is above the recommended 3 degrees. I'm assuming this is my best and really only option.
It's only going to be a street cruising car so I'm not worried about breaking things violently but I just wanted to hear from anyone else about their experience with driveline angles.
Currently while pondering brakes I figured I'd check the angularity of everything and saw that I need to make some corrections. My transmission/gearvendors output shaft measures about 4.8 degrees downward, driveshaft is .7 degrees upward, and pinion angle is .8 degrees downward.
I was hoping to be able to get my output shaft angle a bit more level but nothing I seem to do other than jacking it up will change much. I've got some shims on my motor mounts since my engine and starter barely clear the drag link, and I took my motor mounts fully out to see if I could lower my engine enough that it influenced the angle but it hardly budged. It seems I'm stuck with that 4.8 degree downward angle, especially since gearvendors says not to put any kind of crossmember to support the unit.
I can get my pinion and output shaft more parallel by using some wedges on the rear end, but I'm still going to end up with at least a (4.8 + .7) degree angle difference from output shaft to driveshaft and driveshaft to pinion, which I know is above the recommended 3 degrees. I'm assuming this is my best and really only option.
It's only going to be a street cruising car so I'm not worried about breaking things violently but I just wanted to hear from anyone else about their experience with driveline angles.
