Preheat them some before welding and let them cool slowly ?
Preheat them some before welding and let them cool slowly ?
I think it'll hold just fine, as long as the welds are good. If you are concerned, maybe you could drill a few holes in the sleeve and add a few plug welds. At least then you would have two points along each shaft that are welded, instead of just one end. Although if the slip fit is tight enough (like need to tap it in place, rather than slide it on), that shouldn't matter.
Edit: My thought process on this - If the sleeve is a snug fit, or is plug welded, the welds at the end of the sleeve mostly have to deal with the torsional force from the rotation of the axles. If there is a bit of looseness, the forces applied get wonky (a technical term), and could start putting it through an uneven load for each rotation.
Machine a press fit from the little shaft about 1.5 inches into larger shaft. Add keyway and keystock. Plug weld the two together, weld the end seam. Then, add sleeve. Weld both ends, plus 4 rosette welds offset into each shaft.
This is the belt and suspenders approach i devised for as bombproof as spliced axles can be when i was plotting 8.8 miata swap. Should all be doable with a mill and a lathe.
AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:3. Any machine work on axle shafts would require removal of CV joints, and I lost interest after beating one like it stole my mama's groceries and couldn't get the star off the spline. So berkeley that.
Possibility of a custom jig? Not sure what could work, but it might be possible. I've done some fun stuff with basic 3D prints. For actual machinework I'd probably want to make it out of metal, though.
Probably too much effort for the return?
These are all great suggestions which might make it into V2.
In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
Fair. I keep forgetting how close we are. Probably harder for you to forget.
The plan sounds good, I'll be very interested in the results. I agree that if the slip fit is tight and there is a decent bead on each side, other securing methods will not add to the failure strength. It might be interesting to study the difference in fatigue life with the extra efforts in place, but clearly that is not the goal here. Carry on!
Heat one side, freeze the other. Let them come to room temp before welding?
Mr_Asa said:In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
Fair. I keep forgetting how close we are. Probably harder for you to forget.
I'm laughing through my tears.
Last night I had a bit of anxiety over halfshafts, until I bolted up the Audi shafts. Then I started picturing how it was all gonna work, and I chilled. This morning, I erased the completed tasks from my board:
and filled in all that blank space with a bunch more tasks. Then I cleaned up and put away all my tools, vacuumed the garage floor, emptied out the car, and got to work. Here's where I am now. Red circled items are low priority:
18 days to go.
Don't know if you did the axles yet, but a couple of holes in the sleeve and plug weld to the shaft. I know of a 1200awhp Duramax with sleeved axle shafts and he plug wleded them as well as welded the ends of the sleeve.
My buddy Tony is the real hero of this project. He previously made the engine adapter plate and the flywheel. He has been an invaluable sounding board for design and execution ideas all over the car. And last night he dropped off these beauties:
Payback will be in the form of brain and labor power on his shoebox Nova gasser and his 91 ZR1.
16 days to go.
Those are purdy!
How many of those $/inches have been bored away? Half off?
AAZCD-Jon (Forum Supporter) said:How many of those $/inches have been bored away? Half off?
^see that right there?^ that's challenge budget thinking right there.
I would not at all be concerned about those shafts if you can get them welded well.
If you are concerned, make a "driveshaft" loop, depending on how much actual travel you have I dont think it would be hard. Bolt it to the back of the knuckle, make a loop for each side of the axle.
Had some help this evening from classicjackets and Ryan whose screen name I don't know. Ryan jumped in with routing and bending brake tubes:
and classicjackets made my 2+ year old CAD into radiator duct reality, IKEA-style: some assembly required, poor instructions:
I assembled one workable brake MC from 2 junkyard and 1 new-but-wrong-application parts donors, and I installed the check engine light.
"Plan B" axles arrived today. E36 ///M, same spline as C5 outer, but doesn't fit the knuckle or contact the hub properly as-is. Nothing a little machine work can't fix, but I didn't get to check length on drivers side. Bolt circle is smaller on M3 inner vs Audi, so will need an adapter plate which I might not be able to package. Not gonna think about this again until after everything else is done. I'm confident that the Plan A axles are gonna work.
16 days to go.
AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:My buddy Tony is the real hero of this project. He previously made the engine adapter plate and the flywheel. He has been an invaluable sounding board for design and execution ideas all over the car. And last night he dropped off these beauties:
Payback will be in the form of brain and labor power on his shoebox Nova gasser and his 91 ZR1.
16 days to go.
Only thing I would have done different would be to bevel the plug weld holes about 20 degrees for better penetration, much like the bevel you have on the ends.
Should be stout!
15 days brother, you got this!
Congrats on the engine start and you got this to get it finished! Good solution on the axles, agree it should hold if you can get a good clean weld. Agree with Preach that beveling those plug holes would be cheap insurance.
dherr (Forum Supporter) said:Congrats on the engine start and you got this to get it finished! Good solution on the axles, agree it should hold if you can get a good clean weld. Agree with Preach that beveling those plug holes would be cheap insurance.
I'm guessing those are vent holes and not plug weld holes.
I'm enjoying your progress and look forward to seeing the car at the Challenge!
... somebody's trying to give me a 95 Corvette with no title right now... fortunately I don't have a Corvair body so I'm not in trouble, right? Right?
Kendall Frederick said:I'm guessing those are vent holes and not plug weld holes.
They are 1/4" diameter, idea was to enlarge via plunge cut with end mill after welding, then either push a pin through and weld pins to sleeve, or plug weld. IDK what we're doing yet.
... somebody's trying to give me a 95 Corvette with no title right now... fortunately I don't have a Corvair body so I'm not in trouble, right? Right?
c4 wheelbase 95.7" iirc. Corvair van and pickup are 95". So maybe?
Axle 1 lengths adjusted for RH and bolted in place:
about to start cutting for LH, which is 1-1/4" shorter than RH
All halfshaft bits have been test-fit and delivered to whiskey_business for welding. Next tasks are to finish brake lines, clutch line, and the last couple pieces of coolant plumbing at radiator. Then fill and bleed and look for leaks. Then about a million other things that can mostly be done in a parking lot if bad comes to worse.
Thrashing, it how things get done.
Keep it up. See you in Gainesville.
So excited to see Monzoora nearly alive!!!
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