Dgoodno... Carbon Fibre driveshaft?

[AZ94Q]

It doesn't really matter how old it is, right?

[rsiwicki]

I will know on Thursday if I can do it sooner rather than later as I am hoping for a miracle that it is something else beside knocksensors....I just don't want to spend another grand on a maintenance thing and hope it is somthing trivial.

I don't think that they need our OEM driveshafts anymore since they already have the specs threfore should be no downtime. I talked with Joe today to see if the driveshafts were different between 90-96 and he said that they are all the same. He did say that flange was differet on the differetials between 90-93 vs. 94-96. You might want to confirm with him.

This definetly seems another worth while mod. To add a net 8lbs (52lbs vs 40lbs tires....less 40lbs driveshaft) and still feel a significant gain is good for me.

Hitman....How about a little BRM muscle with these guys for a discount for our thirsts for more speed. With all these mods we will certainly come close...if not set a new HP & torque barrier for the Q. I can't wait.

[rsiwicki]

I hear it is not the driveshaft itself that goes...but the joints/o-ring bearings??? that wear out and only the whole assembly can be replaced. At least this is what the dealer told me and the I had a warranty that paid for it anyway.

[AZhitman]

Driveshafts do indeed "wear out", but that's kind of a misnomer. They WEAR (keep in mind where they live) and the connecting surfaces wear as well.... Chaper to replace the whole unit.

The flanges are indeed different between the two. .013 difference to be exact. Don't ask me how I know...

[AZ94Q]

I guess I won't pick this one up on ebay then.

[sijoko]

AZ94Q,

I have never taken my car to the track. But I did test it with a G-tech on a lonely road about 2 years ago.

I was getting 0-60 times of 5.8-6.0 secs and quarter mile times of 14.0-14.2 secs with speeds of 98-101 mph. The tires I had were all-seasons so there was a lot of wheelspin. This was before the Carbon Fiber Driveshaft.

I have no idea how accurate the G-tech times are, but I am confident in saying that the car feels like a low 14 sec. car.

A month or so ago, I raced a Mach 1 from 60 to around 110 and pulled away. I couldn't tell if it was a stick or auto.

rsi,

I will eventually get the JWT ecu. Right now, there are other things that I need to do on the car.

I am in the process of replacing the rear suspension bushings with Nismo parts for the 300zx.

Once you get the stuff installed on your car, it would be great if you could measure the accelaration times. This way everyone has an idea as to what they can expect from their cars.

[AZhitman]

I guess I won't pick this one up on ebay then.

Yep - Pays to be cautious, as not everyone has access to an aircraft parts machinist who works for free...

Saved my butt shaving .013 out of the shaft flange hub.

[AZ94Q]

Damn

nice times

the gtech is usually within .1-.3

God If I can get to low 6s or crack 5s, with low 14s or high 13s ill be so happy..

[AZ94Q]

I am now CONVINCED, I will be able to reach or exceed my friends XJR, without having to go with forced induction.

[AZhitman]

Now if we can just find a set of lightened underdrive pulleys and a nice electric fan setup...

Go ahead - I put the ball on the tee, you drive it into the outfield.

[AZ94Q]

Get me some HEADERS!!!!

I want 300 RWHP

[AZhitman]

Waiting on SOMEONE (Mr Clemons) to send me the stockers he promised!!!!

Yo, man - I KNOW you ain't that busy! Put down the donuts and crack those bad boys off for a brotha!

[AZ94Q]

Can't we just get the specs from AGM, and reproduce them.

[HeavyDuty]

There is a noticeable increase in performance with the Carbon Fiber Driveshaft.

Originally, I had some lightweight Enkei 16x7 wheels with Continental tires. The wheel with tire weighed ~ 40lbs.

When I installed the CF driveshaft, I put on some new wheels and tires (17x8 with Kumho Ecsta 255/45) which weighed in at over 52 lbs each.

I thought that the heavier wheel/tire package would negate any gains from the CF driveshaft. But that wasn't the case.

The car was noticeably quicker. I can only imagine what the performance improvement might be if I had stayed with the lightweight tire and wheel package. -sijoko

I bet the heavier wheels/tires offset the potential gains quite a bit. I've been told to use a factor of 8:1 with respect to unsprung weight added/subtracted. I'm sure if I'm wrong, someone will come along with the correct formula all things considered.

But if I were to use that 8:1, then, 12lbs per wheel/tire increase, X four wheels, X 8lbs (with respect to how it impacts the cars acceleration, handling, braking), then he added 384 lbs of unsprung weight to the car, but then subtracted 26lbs from the driveline (two different calculations, I'm sure) by his calculations with the reduced weight from the driveshaft.

I don't know how reducing the weight in the driveline is calculated, but I do know it yields more power, or rather frees up power that was used to turn the prop shaft. (?)

So in his opinion he netted gains despite adding a ton of weight to the car.

Cool.

[rsiwicki]

sijoko....you can be sure that I will fully test my new setup at the track. The Moroso 1/4 mile drag way is about 90 minutes away. I went there last week (stock) with my engine missing under load & high rpms. I ran a best 15.8 @ 88mph. The car goes back to the shop on Thursday to find out whats wrong. Those are some really awesome numbers and exacty where I want to be in the 1/4 & 0-60.

[AZhitman]

Can't we just get the specs from AGM, and reproduce them.

I'm pretty close on the specs, from photos and discussion, but I want the stockers to recreate the flanges (angle and exact dimensions). Also, one area I intend to diverge from the original designer's concept is I plan to use a stepped tube design - See Bassani's new Cobra headers to see what i mean and why.

The 4.6l Furd motor has more in common than folks think, and many of the principles of its mods are cross-applicable.

But I'm really concerned about dropping $2K into R&D when I can't even get 5 people to drop $800 on a 4.08 upgrade (that people once paid $2K for).

Ryan - Can you do some sleuthing on the pulley issue? Is it feasible? Are there cross-applications (like the VG30TT)?

I digress - Back to the driveshaft!

[AZ94Q]

I think we should make a q45 performance sticky thread, where we can discuss all this, instead of across multiple threads. Just an idea..

Anyway.. I'll do whatever it takes for additional performance, but I don't know what you mean by lightened pullys, other then they are lighter.. as in what am i looking for, and stuff.. IE if you told me to call around for headers I would know who toc all and what to ask, but I'm unsure on the pully thing.. Give me details, and I'll figure something out

[AZhitman]

I'm not sure either - I just know that Unorthodox Racing makes a set of lightweight "underdrive" pulleys that supposedly free up some power... Common mod for domestics...

Anything applicable to the 4.6 Furd is likely to work well for the Q.

[AZ94Q]

Let's find a good ford shop around here, and show them the VH45DE.

[1qckser]

Quote »Waiting on SOMEONE (Mr Clemons) to send me the stockers he promised!!!![/quote]

I forgot, im sorry, been hittn Krispy Kremes too hard lately, ill try this weekend, AZ give me a call, I lost your #

[AZhitman]

Dammit Todd! I lost yours!

(602) 828-8908.

Much <3 bro!

[HeavyDuty]

<3

I know I'm goofy, but that icon looks like the Conehead daughter on prom night!

What does it really mean?

Discalimer:I know I'm about to release a plethora of debate on underdrive pulleys, their "effect" on harmonics, balancing, oil pump issues, and all the other evil things they cause on *some* engines. This is a relative post and not, at this time, to be considered gospel with respect to the VH45DE.

For some relevant content, underdrive/lightened pulleys free up power by reducing the rate at which the accessories are turned by the crankshaft.

Kinda like switching from 10th gear on a 10 speed bike, to 2nd or 3rd, in terms of ease of acceleration. Yes, your top speed is reduced, but you can get going quicker.

I was looking at our crank pulley the other night. It has a funky set screw of some description. I do not know if the VH45 is internally or externally balanced, I'm A$$-U-Me-ing it's the former as opposed to the latter.

A lot of power can be freed up just with reducing the weight on the crank, even a stock sized pulley made from billet aluminum can free up power without reducing the accessory drag. Some people have reported charging or cooling issues with underdrive pulleys in the past. Most of that has been addressed by maintaining a +/- 15% reduction which will usually net no more than a slight drop in voltage at idle, unless you have a monster stereo system.

You can change the crank pulley (smaller), or multiple pulleys (crank + accessory). To underdrive the accessory pulleys, you make them larger. Most of the time, the sets are smaller crank and stock size accessory, albeit lighter.

Unorthodox Racing dooes not make a VH set at this time.

[AZhitman]

Good info, Jason. That's just what I was looking for.

Now we need to find out if our crank pulley and accessory pulleys are similar enough to those used on another vehicle (for which mods are available, like the 300ZX) to cross-apply.

Wonder what it'd cost to replicate our crank pulley in aluminium? I have a good friend who's a machinist for an aircraft manufacturer... Maybe make it 10% smaller as well?

[AZhitman]

p.s. <3 = love (not the mansechs kind either).