as some of you may know i have been planning to fix leaks, add gauges, torque converter etc. I have been stalling because i dont want to see my savings go away lol. But i have sucked it up and spent some money on gauges very recently and i got a nice shopping cart set up with summit right now.

One thing is stopping me. DRIVESHAFT!!! i need to do the transmission tailshaft gasket and with that i have found that i need to remove the driveshaft so i might as well replace it with a light aluminum one, right? I want to get one from Precision Shaft Technologies, Carbon Fiber Driveshafts and Racing Shafts for atround $300. my problem is they wont answer their phones or answer my emails. So, now i turn to you guys...again .

should i go ahead and get an aluminum flywheel also if i am doing the torque converter too? i don't know the measurements of the DS so if any one knows what they are pleeeaassee let me know.

 

personally i wouldn't worry about the drive shaft right now something like that is more for racing. your better off spending that dough on something else for your ride. like maybe a bushing or suspension kit you'll notice a difference with that. not so much with the drive shaft for a street car.
just my two cents.
oh yeah be ready to lose some tranny fluid when you pull the shaft if it's not level they plugs you can put in there to stop it from leaking or you can make your own out a junk shaft.
Dave

 

Buying a new aluminum driveshaft when there's nothing wrong with the one you have is a waste of money. Just because you have to pull it off doesn't mean it should be replaced. If you pulled good tires and wheels to do a brake job, would you get new tires and wheels?
As for the aluminum flyweel, you've got a automatic with torque converter, and it uses a flexplate, not a flywheel.

 

Save your money. I weighed my steel 3rd/4th gen drive shaft at 16 lbs. and my aluminum one was 12 lbs. I gotta imagine the differences for yours would be in the same ballpark. On a street car, you're not going to notice a difference in performance. It does make a difference with a drag car though, when every ounce can make a fraction of a difference in your e.t. Spend your money on something more important, and effective.

 

alright so i'll hold off on the drive shaft for now and that's a good point you brought up BB427. There are so many options from summit though idk what to choose half the time.

I'm definitely getting front and rear sway bars, the "handlebar braces", radiator to fender supports, torque converter, shift kit, posi trac, bbk aluminum underdrive pulleys and 8.8mm wires. no flywheel because i have an automatic lol. possibly 3.83 gears? how will that affect highway driving?

and if there are any other items you think i should get please let me know. Thanks for the advice fellas you just saved me a ton of money on something i didn't really even need.

 

Take a look at protouringf-body.com The "handle bars" you want are much cheaper from Dave. He specializes in fbodies too. Helleva nice guy to boot. Thats where mine came from.

 

Before you go ordering gears, and a posi you need to know what you have now. If you have a gear ratio in the 2 range you'll need to get not only a posi carrier, but a 3 series posi carrier. You can't put a posi into your carrier, as you need a designated posi carrier for that, and it needs to be for the gear range you're looking at. Better to install a locker if you've already got 3 series gears, as that wont require a carrier change if you've already got a 3 series carrier. A Power Trax locker will fit into a stock carrier to give you a posi.
3.83 gears might be a bit low for a mostly street driven car, unless you're running very tall tires. I'm turning 2600rpm at 55mph with a 3.73 gear and 29.5" tall tires. My Camaro has 3.42 gears with a 27" tall tire and turns around 2200rpm at 55mph.
Before buying anything for the rear you need to know what tire/wheel combo you'll use, plus the present rearend ratio, and whether it's open or posi.