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Repairing the V8 Ambo propshaft.

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990V8 View Drop Down
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 990V8 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Sep/11/2017 at 3:19pm
Back from the 310 mile trip to the Goodwood Revival, where it was wet and cold.
Anyway, there's still a slight vibration. No worse on the gas or off.
Seems to be mainly around 60/65mph.
If it gets no worse I'll give it a good ignoring.

The gearbox leaked heroically. I too a gallon of ATF and used more than half. Do have a bottle of Lucas seal reviver. Tried it a couple of years ago on the TH400 in my Silver Shadow, where it had no noticeable effect. May as well tip it in, nothing to lose.

Ivor
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 990V8 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb/16/2018 at 4:46am
Bad news.
The vibes are back.

Yesterday I drove 180 miles to a shop that's going to rebuild the gearbox.
At around 2300rpm there's still a slight vibration, more noticeable under load, so on the motorway I tend to sit a bit below those revs. Yesterday I was in a hurry and I took it up to around 2600rpm where the vibration disappears. Stayed that way for maybe 50 miles.
When I had to slow down again I noticed the vibes were worse. Didn't have the road space to investigate any more with my right foot and had to slow down for speed limits so was out of the vibes zone until the end of the journey. At the time, that allowed me to give it a good ignoring, but I know it was there.

The propshaft rebuilder did say that the single uj was an experiment. I guess it hasn't worked.
Feeling rather despondent now. What to do.

Going to an open drive would be a lot of work, and pretty much another experiment.

Has anyone tried one of Galvin's rebuilt propshafts? Always assuming I can get them to ship one over to me, they seem to be having some sort of crisis at the moment.

Oh dear.

Ivor
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote farna Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb/16/2018 at 6:41am
As long as the single joint is positioned correctly it will work. 56-62 V-8s and all six cylinder Rambler TT cars used single joints. Have you checked/replaced the mounts on the ends of the trans cross member? 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 990V8 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb/16/2018 at 1:44pm
Good reminder about the single joint.
No, haven't looked at the mounts, I thought it was fixed, so didn't investigate further.

But I wonder... in another thread, I lamented the bent Panhard rod.
Mentioned this to the chap who rebuilt the propshaft; 'Tow rope' he said, 'someone's attached a tow rope to it'.

He could well be right. Some idiot used the Ambo as a tow truck.

Perhaps the same idiot might have jacked the car under the torque tube...
If the tube is bent, that would soon knock out the propshaft. After all, the double joint not only failed, the yokes were fractured. Perhaps there was and is a misalignment.
After the gearbox rebuild, I'll remove the axle yet again, and measure.

Ivor
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote vinny Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb/16/2018 at 2:24pm
I haven't read back on what all has transpired here and maybe have mentioned it before but have you changed carrier bearings yet? I did in a 66 diff and it made a world of difference. I also read somewhere though that they may be obsolete for your model year, thus requiring alternative modification.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lucas660 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb/16/2018 at 3:57pm
Since the transmission is being looked at, it is worth looking at the output bushing, it is likely to be worn out if the u-joints have failed.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Lucas660 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb/16/2018 at 4:03pm
Another thought. Take measurements to make sure the vehicle is not out of "square"
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote tomj Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb/16/2018 at 10:18pm
no advice, but some data points for you:

in a 63 classic 550 wagon with a '70 232 and a 65 auto trans and axle:

the single joint was no "experiment" -- there's nothing wrong with the design. my ancient beast was completely vibration free at any speed or load and for 21 years of ownership. i often cruised at 2800 rpm for days at a time (i took pee breaks :-O) changed that joint only once, and early on.

the car can be out of square, but only "parallelogram" error is tolerable, eg. front wheels not in line, but the imaginary axle lines parallel. about mid-life mine was put on a four wheel alignment machine, adn the rear found offset to one side, almost an inch. it had been whacked hard in the rear quarter long ago. years before that i had run a string the length of the car, underneath, from harmonic balancer to center of the axle housing, and had found that i needed to move the transmission mount aka rear engine mount, off to one side to be exactly under the string. it's so long ago i remember doing that, but not why, it could have been vibration. the four-wheel machine revealed the bent chassis that i had been compensating for.

(the mod was easy; just drilled holes and pried the tail over to i thivk the drivers side, and got one bolt in, then the other(s).

1960 Rambler Super two-door wagon, OHV auto
1961 Roadster American, 195.6 OHV, T5
http://www.ramblerLore.com

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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 990V8 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Feb/17/2018 at 3:46am
Mmm, another good point. I can see from the paintwork that the car oncc had a fenderbender on the right front, but I didn't think it was major.
The alignment of the rear axle is vague. By undoing the centre nut on the torque tube, as one has to if one wishes to remove the tube from the axle, one detaches the axle stays and destroys the alignment.

Hopefully one can rely on just putting the clamp washer back in its historic footprint, but I agree, it would be a good idea to get busy with some string and check.
A lot of funny things can happen in fifty-five years.

Ivor
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote 990V8 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: Aug/10/2020 at 9:18am
Well I never did check the alignment, but after I had the gearbox rebuilt, the vibration was pretty much gone. Not absolutely totally, but not really noticeable any more.
So I suppose that last bit of vibration was the output bearing at the back of the trans.
 
Now, with the drive shaft rebuilt, and the trans rebuilt, it's good.
 
Should have posted this before, for anyone who looks at this old thread.
 
Ivor
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