Snapped the prop this morning.

[What_was_I_thinking]

The prop was a Pilgrim supplied one from my records, but as to who supplied it them not sure.

Engine will be kicking out quite alot of torque. Would have hoped it would have been a bit stronger.

I guess it's a different prop for the rover 3.5 installation?? Probably a bit stronger. Well you have to hope.

Cheers,
David

[Sidecarbod]

Originally Posted by What_was_I_thinking

The prop was a Pilgrim supplied one from my records, but as to who supplied it them not sure.

Engine will be kicking out quite alot of torque. Would have hoped it would have been a bit stronger.

I guess it's a different prop for the rover 3.5 installation?? Probably a bit stronger. Well you have to hope.

Cheers,
David

I doubt that the prop is different in terms of strangth for the Rover installations, a 3.5 is kicking out more or less the same BHP. At the end of the day a propshaft that can easily cope and one that can only just cope are doing to weigh more or less the same and cost more or less the same so Pilgrim should just supply one that can easily cope.

If you car is a MKII then I don't know what the diff support is like but if it's a MKIII then it is really BAD as standard! Having said that the way its broken it does not look like a "diff issue" it looks like you've dropped the clutch at 5K whilst running a 427 and slicks!.....

Was the tube made of marzipan? I've heard that this can cause issues!

Pete

[FatBoy]

Do any of you guys have a prop-shaft safety loop fitted to your cars?
A broken prop-shaft can cause catastrophic damage to both car and occupants if it breaks at speed. If the shaft breaks at the diff end, the rest of the tube is then relatively free to flail around and will easily rip through the tunnel, floor and both driver and passenger's legs.
I've even heard of, but not witnessed, a broken prop-shaft flipping a car over.

Be afriad, be very afraid.

Needless to say, I have a saftey loop on mine. It doesn't need to be massive, it just needs to keep a broken shaft roughly in line. It's when it gets out of line that the damage is done. To give you an idea, take a straight length of stiff wire, a wire coat hanger will do, and put it in an electric drill. Turn the drill on, and as long as the wire stays straight, its all under control, but as soon as it gets out of line...keep your fingers, eyes etc. well out of the way.

Paul

[Sidecarbod]

Originally Posted by FatBoy

Do any of you guys have a prop-shaft safety loop fitted to your cars?
A broken prop-shaft can cause catastrophic damage to both car and occupants if it breaks at speed. If the shaft breaks at the diff end, the rest of the tube is then relatively free to flail around and will easily rip through the tunnel, floor and both driver and passenger's legs.
I've even heard of, but not witnessed, a broken prop-shaft flipping a car over.

Be afriad, be very afraid.

Needless to say, I have a saftey loop on mine. It doesn't need to be massive, it just needs to keep a broken shaft roughly in line. It's when it gets out of line that the damage is done. To give you an idea, take a straight length of stiff wire, a wire coat hanger will do, and put it in an electric drill. Turn the drill on, and as long as the wire stays straight, its all under control, but as soon as it gets out of line...keep your fingers, eyes etc. well out of the way.

Paul

The late MKIII (and maybe the early MKIII) just has a chassis bar running under the propshaft tunnel, it would not really keep anything in line, just stop the broken shaft digging into the floor and flipping the car over.

Funny the you should mention coat hangers and electric drills, to decoke a 2-stroke expansion chamber I once straighten out a coat hanger and shoved all 2 feet of it into the chamber. I then spun it round like a bat out of hell with a drill. It was doing a great job of knocking the crap out of the carbon stuck in the pipe until I pulled the drill away from the end of the exhaust. The coat hanger came out of the exhaust and whacked me in my "lower region" at about 3000 RPM

Luck it wasn't a propshaft, I guess!

Pete

[What_was_I_thinking]

Yes a fail safe bar under the prop was on my list of things to do... Now shot to top of the list.
Think it is a good mod to do, as I too have heard stories of the back end being thrown into the air at speed as the front end of the prop digs in. Flipping the car on its roof.

Lucklily as the prop broke in the middle it couldn't touch the floor. Photo was taken with car on the ground where it stopped.
I wasn only just taking off from standstill when it broke so almost no speed envolved at all.
I wouldn't say I dropped the clutch, but I was expecting a slight tail slide.
Road was very wet. Almost a puddle.

2nd on my list is a new prop and 3rd fitting some toe hooks, so I don't have to replace a bent bumper everytime I get toed

Cheers,
David

[KevinW]

Originally Posted by Sidecarbod

The late MKIII (and maybe the early MKIII) just has a chassis bar running under the propshaft tunnel, it would not really keep anything in line, just stop the broken shaft digging into the floor and flipping the car over.

Pete

but the pilgrim has an all steel trans tunnel - i dont know how much protection it offers on a bust prop, but its got to be better than the fibreglass that most other cars have.

[wilf]

Still better to contain/constrain the propshaft if a UJ lets go. The less out of line it gets, the less damage it can cause.

[chedz]

Originally Posted by Noel

I've posted pics of the diff brackets previously, I will try and find them

I added some pictures of your bracket here Noel. Only in primer at the time

Rear Suspension And Diffs

They look good but the welding is a bit ropey

[427scr]

Dunno if you got this prop fixed yet, but I can highly reccommend Wilson Drive Shafts in Bulwell Nottingham. They will make anything you want to any specification you want.

I know that they are a bit out of your region, but they are good and reasonably priced.

01159 761 202

Proper old engineering firm with old blokes in grubby blue bolier suits that know what they are doing.