Help decipher the mystery message on my driveshaft

so pulled the heat shields today on the e30 to check out the DS, and lo and behold, somebody left a message on it.

It reads "DON'T FORGET, IT'S NOT....."

but the last word isn't there anymore, so now I have no idea what not to forget, and what it's not...

perhaps he was dictating...?

Joey

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiT_5cr3tYI

I think we have a "castle of aaargh" on our hands.

Fascinating!

After 'NOT', there looks like the remnants of 'OFF'...but that doesn't make any sense.

"Balanced", from the repair shop, or "Tight", from the installing mechanic, or "Much good" from the BMW hater...

"Called a Guido Joint unless it's in Jersey." He was forced to write that 500 times by the parts man.

... title washed yet."

Huh, that is odd. I found this on the back side of my E30 heater core. Something about opening the portal, yada, yada, yada....

Maybe someone always remembered that it was, so he wrote a note to himself that it wasn't?

Seriously, I'm going to bet that since it is a 2 piece driveshaft that can be dis/re-assembled incorrectly and require an expensive re-balancing... the complete text of the note was something to that effect.

Once I get it off, I'll see if I can figure out what the last word is. Looks like someone just put some black paint over it, lol...

I always thought the 2 piece driveshaft balance thing was a myth. Aren't the flanges keyed?

And if not, WHY NOT???

Taiden wrote: I always thought the 2 piece driveshaft balance thing was a myth. Aren't the flanges keyed? And if not, WHY NOT???

Nope. They are a straight spline and balanced together so if you break it apart you have to mark them so they go back together the same way. If you screw it up - it will shake the piss out of you worse than an unbalanced wheel. It spins at .89 of engine speed in 5th on a 325i.

Note to self, write cryptic messages next time I'm under the car.

No one else recognizes the immortal opening line from Clarkson's Autobiography? DON'T FORGET, IT'S NOT, I MEAN, HOW HARD COULD IT BE?"

pinchvalve wrote: No one else recognizes the immortal opening line from Clarkson's Autobiography? DON'T FORGET, IT'S NOT, I MEAN, HOW HARD COULD IT BE?"

Whoa. We may have a winner here.

I'm going to write "DON'T FORGET IT'S NOT" on my m10 powered e30's driveshaft this weekend.

In reply to pinchvalve:

I almost wonder if the second half of that was on the front half of the DS, which is entierly coated with transmisison oil, and has probably rubbed off by now.....

I always wonder why that was with a 2 piece shaft needing to be balanced like that. Wouldn't it just be easier to make sure each part was already balanced and then you can assemble them anyway you want?

They probably match them front and rear to require the least amount of ballencing. They are also ballanced with the correct angle in them as the dynamics change.

Wally wrote: Note to self, write cryptic everywhere next time I'm anywhere.

Fixed

Don't forget it's not ... offset?

Someone related, I once found swastikas on the inside body panel of a VW beetle I helped gut.

irish44j wrote: Help decipher the mystery message on my driveshaft

Lets be real, has that pickup line ever worked for anyone here?

I once wrote "if you are reading this, good luck putting that all back together, ha ha ha" in sharpie on the inner firewall behind the dashboard on my old AE86. I wonder if anyone ever found it?

In reply to blizazer:

Once, It said "Welcome to Jamaica, have a nice day"

Am I the only one that is delighted about the correct use of a comma in the cryptic message scrawled on an E30 driveshaft?

That is what really stands out to me.