1976 280Z Restoration Project

[Zed Head]

Holy moly.  I took another Google and ended up on RockFORD driveline, not Rockwell.  And found this.  You might be on to something.  Check the other dimensions.  Looks like four possibilities.

Did you just brute-force past the stakes or do some grinding?

http://old.rockforddriveline.com/ujointinside.htm

 

[wheee!]

Ya, I noticed my dyslexic typo too. Rockford.
I watched a few YouTube videos showing the caps being punched or pressed in and went for it. No big deal, just slower than normal u joints.

[wheee!]

Definitely the 430-10 with the .867" bearing diameter and 1.400" inside lockup.
I will order some u joints and try it out!

[Zed Head]

So you're going to assume that the inner dimensions of the yoke are accurately machined, and use the internal clips?  Could work.  Nissan might have found that staking saved clips and time on the manufacturing line.  I hope that there wasn't a final machining step that they skipped also.

One of my early bad car experiences was with u-joints.  Mixing and matching caps and clamps on a GTO driveshaft.  Got so used to the bad vibrations that I didn't realize my wheel was about to fall off.  High school cruising days.  Luckily I had a friend riding with me to chase the wheel down while I stayed with the car in the middle of the road.  We got away with a ton back then.

[wheee!]

From what I read today, staking is a cost and time saving method of assembling the prop shafts. I believe the machining process for the shafts stayed the same from late series one to the S130 vehicles. The inner surface looks well machined in the photos I posted. That and the 280Z shaft has been modded with these u joints many times before me. The fact that they list the 280’s in their catalog for this part is enough reassurance for me to try. Regardless, this shaft was not going back in with the old joints so no loss.

 

[EuroDat]

I think they started staking because the smaller u-joints aee easier to fit. The measurements I took were 36mm inside faces, but that was with u-joint still in place so not very accurate. I think the inside is machine accuratly, because it would require less balancing weigths. My concern would be the tolerances used. 36mm could be 36.2 on one and 35.8 on another.

It will be interesting to see how they fit.

[Captain Obvious]

Wow. Neat find. I looked over the info at the website, and all indications are that it (supposedly) will work.

Only thing that looks like a little hokey to me is that there won't be a full surface contact area for the clips. Because of the way the yoke is machined off at an angle like that, only the "tips of the legs" of the clips will be doing any retention. the bottom "U" portion of the clips will be floating in air. Assuming I'm understanding the geometry correctly...

[wheee!]

I'm connecting with Energy Suspension now to see if they have the package deal for the u joints including the Rockford style replacements. They offer a kit for the 76 including the prop shaft, so we will see....

[wheee!]

Nope... The kit from them is half shafts only. There is a part from NAPA locally though for their part number UJS UJ10430 that will fit. It is the SKF u joint so I will order two of those.

[EuroDat]

3 hours ago, Captain Obvious said:

Wow. Neat find. I looked over the info at the website, and all indications are that it (supposedly) will work.

Only thing that looks like a little hokey to me is that there won't be a full surface contact area for the clips. Because of the way the yoke is machined off at an angle like that, only the "tips of the legs" of the clips will be doing any retention. the bottom "U" portion of the clips will be floating in air. Assuming I'm understanding the geometry correctly...

That chamfer is a concern of mine too. You could slide the circlip around the cup so it gets maximum contact. You would need enough clearance around the back of the cup. Sometimes the distance is too small and the circlip jams between the cup and yoke.

I came across the rockford 430-10 some 6 years back when I was cleaning my propeller shaft aftrr rebuilding the transmission. A company had them in a ad for 82-83 720 pick up and the dimensions looked good for the 280Z.

The other thing that needs to be checked is the inside distance "B" in post 1861. Is the tolerance of this distance suitable to fit inner circlip u-joints? Could be batches out there with distances like 35.8mm or 36.3mm. That could cause a problem.

[Zed Head]

Probably won't really know until you get the parts.  Might end up as garage art.  Or, maybe, the clips will center the joint well enough that you feel comfortable restaking from the outside. 

If the fit is an interference fit you might even run with no stakes and no clips.  One of those things that you "know" is fine, calculations wise, but still makes you nervous.  You already know that the original stakes weren't really that strong.

[wheee!]

I guess we will see. I have ordered the parts from NAPA and they should be here in a few days. Hopefully I will have stripped and powder coated prop shaft ready to put them in by then too.

I MAY remove a small amount of material in the chamfer area to sea the clip better if it needs it. I don't like messing with a balanced part though....

Edited February 14, 2018 by wheee!