IIRC I used a molycote based grease at the time.

Andrew, I think the spacer is made exactly for the purpose you mention, to move the shaft back by 15mm as a precautionary measure. I will take a picture of the cover left on the TC to show what is there.

EDIT:

I measured the distance from the TC input to the diff flange and for my car it is 29 7/8" So, 29 3/4 should fit fine and it could even be 1/16" more. (This also explains why a 31 1/8" shaft is a 1/4" too long to fit.

The depth inside the TC output spline is about 2". The original shaft only engaged 3/4" out of 1" splines. The flex disc is 28mm thick, the centering plate is 4mm and the spacer 15mm, together that is 47mm or about 1.85" So, if the shaft fits precisely between the diff flange and the TC, I would get about an inch worth of engagement with unused spline. I'd be tempted to find a way to increase that spacer thickness another .15" to get maximum benefit and not bottom out inside the TC output shaft (but I maybe overthinking this... :-).

What's the total bolt length? Size? I ordered the spacer too. It will be here sometime in Dec or January. Since the plate and shafts will be out by using a lift, the flex plates and spacer will on. Does anyone have pictures of an installation?

According to RealOEM the bolts are M10X55-10-ZNS3. So you'd need M10x70. 3ea.

The gents at my indy demurred and muttered only of drive shaft builders closing doors.... Ken's transmissions in Frederick may be able to help but I need to show them the parts, so for now I'm stuck until the splined stub arrives.

I did find some generic donut spacers on EBay 10.16mm ID and 11.1mm thick. I may use those as an interim solution until the spacer from Russia arrives.

This grease will also work well. https://barcodeindex.com/upc/745061039148

OEM Mercury Quicksilver Anti-Corrosion Grease 8 oz Tube

Cool. I'll go find some. My spacer from Russia shipped today. :rofl:
Hope it makes it here by Jan. :bustingup

The spacer website has no instructions. I'll have to figure out how to install it. Since it's cut on one side, I assume it can go on only one way. :dunno:

I'll buy recommended grease for installation.

Just ordered the bolts, zinc pated, from boltdepot.com, they seem to have a lot of different permutations.

The three longer bolts need to span: 1. the drive shaft flange 9mm, 2. the spacer 15mm, 3. the centering adapter 4mm and 4. the flex disc 28mm. Total 56mm. A 70mm bolt would have 14mm to mount the nut. The thread on these shank bolts appears to 26mm.

This is a bit insane, the spline stub is coming from Nevada, the spacer from (who knows where?) in Russia and the bolts from Massachusetts. Let's ee when it alll hits the mat!

I used moly fortified grease in my replacement shaft splines. I also lubed up the rubber seal that goes around the output of the Tcase. Everything is still good so far! *knock on wood*

At any rate, the thicker spacer seems like the best idea IMHO.

Front drive shaft is back on the car and running
 

Last Monday dropped off the shaft at A-1 Drive Shaft Co. in Baltimore. I cut the shaft at the little weld seam just ahead of the spline stub with a hack saw, but asked A-1 to make a clean cut about 10mm further up, then weld it at a total length of 29 13/16". This length I had previously determined left me about 1/16" play to re-install the shaft.

The longer M10x70 bolts hit my mat on Wednesday and I picked up the shaft on Thursday afternoon. A-1 had done a very good job at quite an acceptable price. Got home, greased up the splines on both sides and assured that the seal cap did not inhibit full engagement. When the shaft bottoms in the TC I have about 17 mm space between the centering adapter and the shaft flange. So, all good but the Russian spacer was still in NY, having arrived from Russia. I decided to find three temporary 15mm spacers to install and run the shaft like that until the Russian spacer arrives.

I inserted the three 15mm spacers between the centering adapter and the drive shaft. However, the new bolts have 17mm heads and when the bolts are tight, the bolt heads DID NOT clear a bolt-boss on the bell housing! :-( By the way, this same bolt-boss appears to be the reason why the spacer is 15mm, any more and the shaft flange will interfere with the bell housing.

So, I figured there are two ways to solve this. Either grind the bolt heads down by a millimeter or two on one side, or get a set of 10mm internal hex bolts which should have slimmer heads. I prefer the latter option and ordered a set of internal hex bolts. For the moment I found a set of 10mm spacers and the bolt heads clear by about .5 mm. The front end of the longer bolts just clears the back of the front diff with these thinner spacers.

I tightened the whole thing up and re-installed the stiffening plate. A test drive did not show up any untoward noises and most important no vibrations of any sort. So now, just a matter of waiting for parts and then have another session under the car....

Great update


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Sorry I did not shoot some more pics under the car but I was impatient and a bit rushed to get it rolling. When the other hardware comes in, I will try get some shots of the set-up once installed. I know some others are working on this problem or trying to forestall it.

At any rate, I am aiming for maximum engagement of the splines in the TC but not have to split the TC from the transmission. Also, the spline shaft fits the shaft tube just close enough that it is a good match, overall a nice product.

The internal hex bolts are not zinc coated but they are 12.9 rated. I will try find some product thing to coat them with to minimize rust. Suggestions?