keith5700

...............err I think you have completely misunderstood everything I was trying to say. I'm not sure how else to explain it other than how I did originally. Oh, there's no centre bearing in the above example, it's just a plain one piece shaft with a u/j at each end.

Hi, Pete No, second degree crank forces are a completely different thing. When a steady rotating speed is fed into a u/j, going thro an angle, the speed coming out of the u/j is not constant. It speeds up and slows down slightly thro the revolution. Ie, 3000rpm going in, 3001/2999rpm coming out. this is what causes the apparent vibration. The bigger the angle, the more the variation. However, these variations can be cancelled out by having another joint at the other end of the shaft. The only catch is that this joint must be the same angle as the first, and bend the opposite way. So if the input joint bends thro 3 degrees and the output bends the opposite way, but only thro 2 degrees, then you end up with 1 degrees worth of speed variation, and hence the apparent vibration. The cure is to either alter one or both angles to make them the same, or scrap the uj's and use cv joints at either end. Hence the name, constant velocity joint. U/j's are not constant velocity. The prop bends also have to be equal side to side as well as up and down. Ps, call in any time, but bear in mind it's just a garage full of bits at the mo. 01332 556237. You can buy my n/a engine while you're here......

The propshaft joint angle changes due to engine and diff movement will be roughly the same with a one piece prop as it is with a 2 piece prop. The one piece prop still has a joint at both ends, and will accommodate the movement as well as a 2 piece prop. A one piece prop on a fairly short span such as the zed will work fine, as long as it is dynamically balanced, and the input and output angles are within 1/2 degree of each other, and less than 3 degrees each.

Dribble, dribble. Yes, balancing is the first thing to do, to either cure it, or eliminate it. Altering angles won't be a 5 minute job. I had 2 poeple try and balance mine before I realised it was an angle problem.

The thing is there are 2 vibration sources in a prop. One is out of balance and the other is cyclic variations in torque. If you have the 2nd type then no amount of balancing will bring it back.

Yes but the tt prop you took off had a c/v joint in it, from memory anyway. I'm not saying this is your problem, only that it may be. The only way to alter the angle of the diff would be to alter the thicknesses of the front rubber/poly mounts, or get some eccentric rear diff mount bushes, which is what I intend to do with mine if I can't get the engine at the same angle as the diff, as I will be using a one piece on mine shortly.

I had this on another car when I went to a single piece prop. After researching the subject I found that u/j's like to work in pairs cos they do not transmit a constant angular speed individually. ie if the front joint bends the prop upwards say 3 degrees, then the rear joint should bend 3 degrees down for the cyclic vibrations to cancel each other out. Now this is just a theory, but it may be that the engine and diff are not at the same angle, so to get the u/j's at similar angles then one bit of the prop may bend at the c/v joint. But if you take the c/v joint bit out then the u/j's must be at similar angles. I checked mine with an accurate plumb bob and found the engine and diff were different angles, by about 2 degrees. I had adjustment built in to the diff as it happens so I altered the angle of the diff, and the vibration dissapeared. Ps, to the engineers out there, I realise this is a simplified version of u/j theory.

8.10 today (Wed) morning outside Council offices, Derby City centre.

Don't forget the inside of the sills. They're a triple cavity affair so must be a nightmare to repair when they go rotten. I've just done mine with a 2 foot long flexible lance and a couple of aerosols. You can get to some bits from the front hole behind the arch liner, and from the rectangular holes under the sill trim, but I still needed 4 more holes drilling each side to make sure I got everywhere.

John, not figured out what the pas will need to keep it working, although mine doesn't work properly at the moment anyway. Mine is super light all the time. Had a quick look at the manual and it looks like the pas selonoid uses different voltages to regulate the steering load, so I may just have a variable voltage supply to it and alter it till I get a nice, all round steering weight. Having said that it would be nice to have it working properly so if anyone knows how to get steering working right, without the speedo installed, then I would be very grateful. Ps John, did you manage to find that steering pump? Cheers

Friday, the drawing will be an autocad file, are you ok to open it? Can post it if not.

Neil, web site is http://www.nordskogperformance.com although I buy it all from Summit in USA. The range is called Street Digital. The digital bit just refers to the display, the sensors are normal resistance based analogue type. However, it would be a pure coincedence if the zed sensors are the same output as the Nordskog ones, but the proper matching sensors are not expensive compared to the overall cost of such a job. I don't know if the original wiring could be used cos I've not looked up how the zed gauges work, ie if any of them work off the ecu, as I will run new wires for it all anyway. The speedo needs some sort of electrical pulse so it may be possible to use the z one but I don't know how many pulses per mile it gives. My speedo can take up to 60,000 pulses per mile from memory. I have the matching sensor reading off 4 bolt heads on the prop. I think it was about 12,000 revs per mile on the Granada.

Thanks again. Andyduff, didn't realise you could get to the fuel sender without dropping the tank, so that's saved a lot of aggro, ta. Slobo, I like to keep an eye on temps and boost and air/fuel ratio more than anything else so put them in main console. Fuel gauge is waste of time with a 6.3 supercharged chevy anyway, I just fill up at every gas station I pass! :) If anyone is thinking about doing something similar, then just a few pointers:- I was a bit sceptical about going digital, would the numbers be changing so fast that you couldn't register what the hell was going on??? After doing it I found they were superb to read on the go. All that's needed is a quick glance and the brain takes it all in instantly. Nowadays driving a car with analogue gauges is like going back to olden days, takes ages to read wot's going on. Only downside is when sun is coming in over your shoulder, makes them difficult to read. But they look amazing at night. Oh, they dim when sidelights come on. The problem is that there's a ton of work to fit them, the backplate took a load of milling out, loads of mods to the original console to fit plate and get the bottom left warning light bit to fit, theres a ton of wires coming out the back. Took 7 hours yesterday to wire it up, different resistors for different colour led's to get the brightnesses right. Still a load of work to splice it all in to the car to get it all to work. Drilling, tapping, fretsawing, blasting, spraying etc.etc.. So, not a weekend job. MantaV8, still got 6 weeks of rubbish houshold jobs before car comes off the road. Just collecting bits at the moment. Can't wait tho'

The fuel gauge (in the centre console) is something I've still got to figure out. It has 3 resistance ranges it can work with, but I don't know what range the Z sender uses. If anyone knows I would be very interested. Forgot about the US market. You can get Nordskog digital dashes over there for a few cars, and they look quite nice. Did consider transplanting a Corvette one in my Granada at one time. Friday, I have Cad drawing of the backplate which you are welcome to have if you send address.

Scrawni, the small gauges are 2" and big ones 3.5" (Yank sizes)

Thanks for the comment chaps. The wideband air/fuel ratio gauge is the most useful bit of kit I've owned in 30 years of modding cars, essential when mapping an aftermarket ecu yourself. I'd never do without it, especially when playing with superchargers and things. I don't think it would be a realistic proposition to market the full dash . If I was to take my hours at say £10 per hour, plus the cost of buying all the kit new (I already had most of it from my old car) then this dash would cost over a grand, and that's before any profit margin. Obviously if somone tooled up to mould the backplate etc. it would be a lot cheaper, but the volumes wouldn't warrant it. The fuel pressure gauge is being used as a boost gauge at the moment. The 3 lower led,s will be for high beam, cooling fan on, and the other is a bi-colour one which will be for water injection armed/spraying. err... can't remember the other questions, cheers again for comments.

Speedo runs off a sensor, off the propshaft. Only ever run the tacho on a chevy and it picks up an output from an MSD ignition module. Don't know how it would work on the zx but sure it would be simple.

Gauges are Nordskog from USA. They've got a huge range of stuff. The temp gauge is the first centigrade one off their line, been waiting for it for 18 months. Got 3 more in the centre console. Couldn't face making any more, took ages. Still got to fit all the sensors to get them to work. Speedo does 0-60 and standing 1/4 too.

Just finished new digital dash. Machined panel out of 1/2" ally so I could sink the gauges in. The centre one is an AEM wideband sensor display, unfortunately only available in red. One more bit ready for engine swap day!

I like seeing cars like this. Cos it's going to make mine look even nicer when I get it finished. Front's not bad tho'

Brilliant article that. Wish I could find more stuff like this.

Chucked mine in skip first week I had the car. As you say, it doesn't appear to do anything.

Nordskog is the manufacturer, in USA. They do loads of gauges but these are the Street Digital range. I normally get them, and most of my other stuff, from Summit, in USA. Gauge was about $70 and sender about $25, but probably wouldn't be worth just importing one gauge. As above I'm now doing the dash with speedo, tacho,water temp, boost and air/fuel ratio. Am doing an engine swap and these gauges can be easily calibrated to work with anything, and have peak memory readouts and the speedo does 0-60 and standing 1/4 etc. They look amazing at night but can get a bit lost in bright sunshine.

Cheers Daz. Just realised you've just sold yours. Good luck with whatever you do next. Alan, that 1.5 inches, was that lower than one of those drop base air filters, or the flat bottomed type?

I've been using these for a while, from Nordskog. Am doing main dash at the moment. [/img]