Midyear Drive & Half Shafts

[John O.]

Hello everyone, can some of you please recommend a good place to send the drive and half shafts for restoration. My car is a 65 396 and I really want an NCRS quality restoration for flight judging. Again, thanks to all who responded earlier on the recommendations for the trailing arms.

John

[Donald T.]

Re: Midyear Drive & Half Shafts

Quanta can restore them for you.

[Donald T.]

Re: Midyear Drive & Half Shafts

Sorry, the link didn't attach. www.quantaproducts.com

[Rob A.]

Re: Midyear Drive & Half Shafts

John,

I've had them done by Quanta with good results. The second time I needed to restore a set I found a local shop that was able to achieve the same results with their buffing and polishing equipment. I showed them a picture of the finished product Quanta advertises, and asked them to duplicate it. It saved a lot of money in shipping(I'm in S. CAL.) as well as the cost of the finishing itself. It's just a matter of removing any imperfections and polishing to the desired finish. My understanding is that big block half shafts, at least in '67, had a "peened finish", which I don't believe Quanta offers.

[lyndon sharpton]

Re: Midyear Drive & Half Shafts

the drive an half shafts you can redo yourself. just some time an elbow grease!

[Rob A.]

Re: Midyear Drive & Half Shafts

You're right, I've done some myself, but they were rust free, unpitted, California parts. If there is significant rust pitting, and you want them to look ncrs new again, you need some pretty heavy duty machines with the right grade sand paper to actually remove some metal.

[John O.]

Re: Midyear Drive & Half Shafts

That's my problem guys, the car is a Northern car and really don't think I have the equipment to remove that much from them. Also, anyone know how Quanta brings back the discoloration in the welds? I'm going to looked into the peened finish. I do remember reading that as well some place.

John

[Rob A.]

Re: Midyear Drive & Half Shafts

John,

I think they produce the discoloration by heating it. I was able to get the look using a wire wheel on a bench grinder on the weld area. A plating shop should be able to remove the material required to produce a nice, clean uniform finish. I didn't go as far as producing the "peened" finish on my '67, but I did soften the look after they were polished, using steel wool so it didn't look so shiny, then coated them with the old Krylon satin clear. I was happy with the way they came out, but then again, I didn't have my car judged. I don't think it would be worth sending them to Quanta and having them come back with a bright finish if you plan on trying to duplicate the original, peened finish.

[John H.]

Re: Midyear Drive & Half Shafts

The "finish" axis for half-shafts and the prop shaft is one point; you might want to plug that into your "points per dollar" equation.

[Patrick H.]

Re: Midyear Drive & Half Shafts

Buy a small bottle of the gun bluing available at your friendly Wal-Mart. It does a heck of a job of discoloring the welds the correct sheen. Cheap, too.

Patrick

[John O.]

Re: Midyear Drive & Half Shafts

Thanks for all the great info guys. I'll take all your points into consideration as I get ready to do these.

John