da-man

hey y'all:
I'm sure you've seen the same thing I've seen on Ebay: complete Corvette running gear, from motor & transaxle to suspension, brakes, wheels, etc.

I've been contemplating this for a wicked swap.... but: the wheelbase is too long.

Have any of yall had any experience with (or know anything about) shortening that torque tube that's between the "bellhousing" on the back of the motor and the transaxle at the back of the car? Can it be done? I can't think of any reason why not.... but I may be overlooking something?

thanks.

kesslerbmw

Hadn't thought about doing using that running gear although Im curious to know..

BLK02TA

iTrader: (11)

Well what would stop you? Cut and weld?

mikespeed95

iTrader: (1)

ugggggggggggggggh

balancing something spinning at thousands of rpm so it doesnt break ****, like your floorpan and your legs/hips/pelvis/arms/FACE?

if you dont know what your takling about have the common e-courtesy to lay down the disclaimer;

"i obviously dont cut and weld anything although i highly reccommend it"

this wasnt a non-offensive post btw, if you took offense to it its because im indrectly diagnosing you a case of slight retartedness. but its only because this is the internet.



as to the torque tube thing, i'm not sure, but im sure a driveline place could hep you out.

MaxFubar

You can also usually find a machine shop that can re-balance your drive shaft/torque tube if you have to cut/weld it. Not an uncommon thing.

pist0lpete

iTrader: (3)

I saw something interesting in a recent hot rod issue. Somebody had made an adapter plate that did away with the torque tube setup altogether and alowed the use of a normal driveshaft but still retained the transverse mounted transmission.

Schitzo

iTrader: (6)

talk to this guy yank They can build you any length torque tube you need.

da-man

cool, I'll give him a shout if I need to. But as far as I know, it's just a drive-shaft in a tube, right? So I can shorten the tube, just like an axle housing, and I can shorten / balance the shaft in the traditional manner, right?

mikespeed95

iTrader: (1)

i've actually met this guy and seen what he can do, this guy KNOWS HIS STUFF BIG TIME.

i was at his house about a year before the solstice came out and GM had shipped him solstice drivetrain parts to get his .02 on them.

99c5vert

I vaguely recall someone here has already done this.

He was building a cobra replica with C5 running gear, and had shortened the torque tube.

daniel6718

iTrader: (36)

the tube is just a housing for a driveshaft correct? the tube would only protect you if it broke...so youll need to shorten the 2 and have the internal shaft balanced bam good to go

BB69

iTrader: (1)

A guys on this forum did this about 1-2 years ago in a car he built from the ground up. He shortened the tube over a foot. Here is a link:

https://ls1tech.com/forums/showthrea...hlight=kinsler

Ken

Willem @ Fuel Injection Concepts

iTrader: (2)

you will have no problem, a driveshaft shop can do it for you. this is what we do to run th400's in vettes.

Z06chevelle

Has anyone gotten any info on how to shorten or lengthen the torque tube. I am trying to make it longer in order to put it in to a Chevelle. If anyone has any info, I would love any ideas I can get.

Thanks, Jim.

G-Body

iTrader: (4)

I know that at least 1 has been lengthened......only thing is I don`t know who did it or how much it cost.

The only one that I know of that has been lengthened was the one for Jay Leno`s toronado. You might be able to contact the builder (Bernard Juchli) via Jay`s big dog garage.

J-Rod

Keep in mind the stock torque tube only sees engine speed, and engine torque. Think about a driveshaft on a car prop shaft speed and torque vary by gear, etc...

The propshaft of a C5/C6 is actually pretty puny. The balance job needs to be good, but I don't see cutting one down to be a big issue at all. You could put one in a lathe, and cut it to length, and re-weld it and repeat the process on the outside tube as well.

Alternately you could have the folks who build carbon fiber shafts (ACT I believe) build you a carbon fiber shaft to length.

bustac

iTrader: (1)

The problem is a lot of driveshaft shops don't have the tooling needed to set up these shafts in there standard jigs. Also the tube stock is a non standard size plus it's aluminum. So a lot of them don't want to deal with it.

Here is what's inside the tube.

I'm in the middle of lengthening one by 10" I'll post some pics once its done.

dgiorgi

Hi, I am new to this site and after doing a search on modifing the torque tube on a corvette I stumpled onto this very informative site. I want to modify the length of the torque tube to give me a wheel base of 112 inches to fit under a 34 Ford coupe. I see someone is lengthing one 10 more...Please keep me posted on the results, cost and photos. My email is dgiorgi@yahoo.com

Thanks in advance, Dave

moe.scott

This guy in conjunction with a machine shop in Vermont has both shortened the torque tube and engineered a plate mounting system that eliminates the need for a torque tube all together. His "C5 Dragon" uses the short torque tube while his Cobra replica is using the conversion with a standard trans. and drive shaft.

www.dragonmotorcars.com

I think they mention the name of the shop somewhere on his web site, it looks like Dragon could also help you with this.

bustac

iTrader: (1)

I have an extra tube cut in half that I can weld to the length you need. As long as it 10" or more smaller. I took 10" off one of the halves.