heres the lower joint, the stainless 3/4 dd shaft and upper joint are still in the mail. I'll take more pics when complete, but this complete will run maybe 150 total in parts all polished stainless

 

Details? what are the part numbers, etc.

 

I'll do you one better and link you to a few ebay auctions selling what you need... it all simply bolts together, no welding, simply cut your shaft to length, (should be somwhere between 12" and 15". if you think you need a collapsable shaft then do a search for 3/4" dd shaft and you find collapsable types as well.

top joint:http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...3AIT&viewitem=
shaft:http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...MEWA:IT&ih=007
lower joint:http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/3-4-3...Q5fAccessories

 

the shaft link goes back to the top joint but it looks like a nice system, hopefully you'll post up some finished pics shortly

 

fixed!

 

how will you get on and off without a slip joint? just wondering

 

easy, take out the 3 bolts on the column/firewall, loosen the 2 under the dash and slide it back. should only need maybe 3/4" slide room

 

interesting...
*subscribe*

 

I did mine dirt cheap. I used the lower slip shaft from a third gen and welded on the u-joints from an Astro van steering shaft. The Astro van's steering shaft is too short to use in a third gen. My headers are a tight fit. I had to relocate the upper column up and away from the headers to clear the tubes. The upper column is nothing more than just a shaft.

 

the main reason behind mine is SLP header clearence. My car is 100% new for any removable parts and I have a rubbing issue. New mounts, you name it it it un bolts its new or rebuilt to new specs of better. so I am going to turn the center section of the shaft to a slightly smaller diameter and re-polish it.
I have a ton of polished parts underhood, so I thought it would be a cool addition and clean up the ugly stock rag joint and plastic cover and slip shaft.



that and the added precision in the steering feel will be nice

 

i need to do this, subscribing! I want pics too!

 

I'm curious about how it will turn out as well.

 

Stephen, are the u-joints in the Astro van just bolted in, or welded in, when they are on the Astro van?

 

They bolt onto the steering box with the same size 3/4" splined end and they're bolted onto the upper shaft with the same 1"DD. They're welded/pinched to the slip shaft but can easily be cut off the Astro van shaft. Cut the third gen shaft off it's ends, insert into Astro van ends and weld

 

subscribing for future reference.

 

That’s surely a way to do it on the cheap and achieve the over all same idea.
I think the level of precision on the joints I am using and the polished stainless, no need to weld, no rust etc… makes the difference between a used part, that will rust, needs to be welded and isn’t as “pretty” and a part such as mine.
so over all concept isn't new, but it'll be more along the lines of something that you would buy turnkey from a vendor.

 

Subscribing for future use. Need to kill the slop.

 

I used a shaft from a 96 up full size chevy van, they have a boot around em and the joint is kept covered in grease. just cut a sction from my old shaft to use as an extention for the van outer shadt and welded it up, worked great on my monte carlo.


Had maybe 20 bucks into it.

 

I see your welding has improved there fullsize

 

Did mine some 5-6 years ago.Ive got all of 6 bucks in my astro/4th gen/3rd gen U-joint set-up.It still has the slip joint so it will collapse in a front end collision.The box end(astro)also has a rubber isolator built-in to absorb any vibrations.The firewall end(4th gen) slips right on the OEM steering shaft & uses the same style clamping bolt.

 

wouldnt this help for 40 bucks..... I was thinking of getting this ...any openions against of for ?

http://www.unbalancedengineering.com...Rag_Joint_3rd/

 

[quote=screeminchicken;4009085]wouldnt this help for 40 bucks..... I was thinking of getting this ...any openions against of for ?

http://www.unbalancedengineering.com...rd/[/quote]

tons of threads on this one. the only issue I hear is slight binding while turning. in my case It isnt the rag joint that is my main problem, but the header clearence.
with my set up as well, it a show piece too.

 

Only for a while.After a few months it will start to feel loose again & as mentioned above.There would be some binding when new.Lee Engineering sells(or used to) rag joint with a steel mesh imbeded in the disc.Thats the best upgrade ive seen if you wanna stay with that rag-joint deal.Energy Suspension also used to sell poly rag-joint kits, but those didnt sell very well.

 

parts are here. cut the shaft down to 13"

 

installed:

 

Very nice! I'm going to have to make me a collapse version of that.

 

looks good!

did you actually gain any clearance at all at the header tube? it still looks really close.