The hard part about doing a driveshaft loop is that you need to leave enough
clearance around the driveshaft, so that you have some allowance for
engine/trans and suspension movement. The pragmatic solution is to reroute the
fuel and brake lines so theybre away from the immediate destruction zone, and
then put in the loop to contain the driveshaft.
Alternatively, you can put in the loop the way Larry did, and then add a
secondary shield (possibly made of thinner material) right at the U-joint
location to keep the lines protected. If you were to add a shield of say 1/8b
plate by about 3 inches wide to extend from the top of the tunnel down to a few
inches below the fuel and brake lines, then that would likely protect the lines
for the amount of time it took you to come to a stop.
When I re-plumbed the fuel system for 3/8b lines (feed and return) for the EFI
system, I initially ran both fuel lines and the brake line through the tunnel.
It turned out that the lines were just way too close to the U-jointb& even a
slight amount of sideways movement of the transmission would have caused the
lines to get hit by the U-joint. When I re-did the lines again, I moved the
feed line so it runs about a foot inboard of the passenger rocker panel. Given
the overall clearances in the tunnel for the brake line and the fuel return
line I should have moved everything out there. Maybe the next time I have that
part of the car substantially in pieces Ibll do that.
Back on the scattershield thing, Quicktime has probably the best parts out
there right now, from a Tiger perspective. They have multiple units to fit
various engine/transmission combinations, and they fit closely around the
clutch so that you have more header and transmission tunnel clearance. Havenbt
got one myself, yet, but it looks like a very worthwhile upgrade.
Theo
From: CoolVT@aol.com [mailto:CoolVT@aol.com]
Sent: April 15, 2010 10:05 AM
To: Smit, Theo; tigers@autox.team.net
Subject: Re: Clutch-Driveshaft U-joints
>From the picture on the first page it seems the universal could still hit the
>gas/brake lines in event of failure. Maybe the picture is misleading? At
>1/4" it's certainly strong enough to prevent it dropping to the ground. I
>know of a new car that had that happen within the first few hundred miles.
M
In a message dated 4/15/2010 11:53:53 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,
Theo.Smit@dynastream.com writes:
Larry Paulick , Ibm sure among others, has installed a driveshaft safety loop.
http://www.tigersunited.com/techtips/PaulickShaftLoop/pt-PaulickShaftLoop1.asp
Theo
From: CoolVT@aol.com [mailto:CoolVT@aol.com]
Sent: April 15, 2010 8:51 AM
To: Smit, Theo; m_dangelo@verizon.net; tgrrr@peoplepc.com; tigers@autox.team.net
Subject: Clutch-Driveshaft U-joints
There has been lots of chatter on exploding flywheels, but almost nothing on
failed driveshaft u-joints. Some time back a lister was explaining the dangers
of the front u-joint letting go. If you look at that location you can see that
a loose, rattling driveshaft will have a very good chance of tearing out the
brake and fuel line. It's something I'd like to address this summer. So, what
have people used for solutions?
Mark
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