wheee!

Nice work as usual Jeff. I’m particularly impressed with the panel tensioning on the hatch. I have yet to tackle my hatch and I’m sure it will need similar love. I haven’t seen your Porsche build but do you lay down a sealing coat after all body work is complete?

Paint costs generally don’t change too much from one level to the next. It’s the prep costs that will determine the bottom line. Stripped shell provided and all panels perfect, body work complete... should be the same within 20% margin for paint. DD or show car. The follow up cut and buff will be substantially more for a show car. Giving them a roller with all panels requiring prep and body work is the difference really.

I built a shop with paint booth designed into it so I could do my own (learning as I go). Having said that, it will still cost me close to $7000 for paint supplies, tools and repair materials. About another $6,000 to modify the shop for working on my restomod. I knew I would pay upwards of $15,000 - $20,000 for a total top and bottom paint job (after all repairs and body work) so doing it myself is saving a tonne. This is not for the faint of heart though, as it is all up to you as to how good the finished product will be. I also took a few body work and paint classes....

Why yes I did! A chorus of forum voices echoed through my head as I prepped the piece... "did you mark the mating ends?", "did you mark each end separately for tranny and diff?" ... I also removed a whack of undercoating over-spray from the shaft. That must have been an issue with balance, so much of it on one side versus the other... yeesh.

90% cleaned up, waiting for the u joints to show up. Then I will powder coat and reassemble the shaft!

I am planning on doing the same install on mine soon. Please post pictures as you go! That would be a big help.

I used the ultimate butyl product and the vcomp is for the floor and firewall. I haven’t installed that yet. I also used aluminum duct tape to seal the joints in any exposed areas like the hatch and spare tire well.

https://www.b-quiet.com/ Love it. Low cost, no odour (butyl ultimate product) and sticks like rumours to Trump’s administration.

I'm right in line thinking that this car is a solid $5000 - $6000 car in good condition. Of course, its worth whatever someone is willing to pay, but my bet is that it will go in between those two amounts. Nice car! Smaller market for collectors/enthusiasts still.

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....

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.

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....

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.

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

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.

Here’s some shots of the separated joint.

Will have to check when I am home again... darn day job in the way again! I won't have the bearings for awhile yet anyways. I will press out the old one regardless and get pics etc.

I will press out the old u joints and take some measurements. It looks like the 430-10 Rockwell's are the ones I see listed as fitting. (according to Rockwell)

Anything from 'Murica is going to be out of reach price wise when shipping and exchange is factored in. Luckily, Z Car Supermarket @zKars has three aisles of spare drive line parts available three hours south of me in sunny Calgarifornia. He has a small stash of parts sitting aside for me already so I will get him to add a prop shaft to the order as well. I'm sure if I asked for a horn pad, he'd have one made from real Unicorn....

MY 2008 Lincoln MKX. Low KM's with a new transmission, perfect condition fully loaded.... I hope they fix it up!

From what I understand, the prop shaft needs to be machined to include a groove for the c clips after the staked u joints are pressed out. Doesn't seem like its worth it versus sourcing an older shaft to replace it with. Not interested in the hi performance aluminum versions or the ridiculously expensive offerings from re sellers for stock units.

Well, I survived two IED blasts under my vehicle in Afghanistan... seems paltry to that!

Yeeesh. That’s over $500 here. Time to look for a used 74 shaft I guess.

Well that is not cool. My u joints are toast.