Topic: 1970 Cougar SCJ 4speed driveshaft details

[Mike_B_SVT]

Hey Fellahs,

I recently pulled my driveshaft for cleanup and u-joint replacement.  I've already done the tube of Evaporust trick on it.  I have some before and after pics, as well as some questions about detailing it properly...

Car is an Oct '69 Dearborn built Cougar w/ 428SCJ, 4-speed close ratio, 3.91 rear gears.

Build sheet Driveshaft pic:


Before Cleanup ~ pretty crusty, especially the back half.  There are what appeared to be yellow (or possibly white) grease pen markings in a few spots: most notably an X/stripe at 2', and an "8" or "S" at 3' (measured from front yoke).  There were some other nicks or swipes here and there.  You can also see hints of stripes.








After a degreasing and scrubbing with some soap & water ~ there be stripes!  Also can see the orange paint on the front yoke and an obvious white grease pen stripe, as well as what appears to be a white stripe.  Rear half of the DS weathered more but the brown/orange stripe is there, while the yoke looks almost yellow with just a touch of orange in the crevices.
















After Evaporust; you can see the weld line and shadows left where the paint stripes and grease pens protected the metal some.

[Mike_B_SVT]

Ok, now for the question portion...  I'm looking for clarification / verification on the paint colors, as well as advice on purchasing correct matching paints.

They appear to be (front to rear):

Front yoke = orange

White? stripe near front yoke

Light Blue (LB)
Red (RD)
Light Green? (LG)

Brown? stripe near rear yoke

Rear yoke = orange?


Were the Markal marks typically white, like it appears in my pic, or were they actually yellow?  Or both?

[J_Speegle]

Ok, now for the question portion...  I'm looking for clarification / verification on the paint colors, as well as advice on purchasing correct matching paints.

Front yoke = orange

Rear yoke = orange?

If they are both the same size they likely were they same color. Thought here is that they were prepainted (before attached to the driveline) so that the worker building the driveline could pick out the yoke needed quickly and with ease to quicken the process

White? stripe near front yoke

That is what it looks like - Seen this before or sometimes a stretched out "x" possible indicating that the driveline pass some test like balancing

Light Blue (LB)
Red (RD)
Light Green? (LG)

That is how I would decode the build sheet you provided

Brown? stripe near rear yoke

I'm guessing more likely an orange. If there is any paint left you can with fine sand paper - slightly sand the top discolored surface off, wet it and take a close look at it. Last ditch effort is a little lye (oven clear) sprayed on it will foam and bring the color out - though watered down a bit. You get  one shot at this and the color will be clearly visible for a few seconds before it all melts away in the foam



Were the Markal marks typically white, like it appears in my pic, or were they actually yellow?  Or both?
[/quote]

They are and were made in many different colors - most typically found on cars from our focus were the yellow and white. They make a dozen or more types of these markers so if your buying them you want the permanent ones not the lumber markers

Not sure if your going to be able to "buy" matching colors as I often have to mix to get many of them to where I want. Since your only doing one car you can get by with small hobby/model paint I would guess but if your mixing always mix more than you think you'll need since if you run short, before you done or have to redone the mark or stripe you'll never get the mix to the same color if you have to add or touch up the mark.

[Mike_B_SVT]

Not sure if your going to be able to "buy" matching colors as I often have to mix to get many of them to where I want. Since your only doing one car you can get by with small hobby/model paint I would guess but if your mixing always mix more than you think you'll need since if you run short, before you done or have to redone the mark or stripe you'll never get the mix to the same color if you have to add or touch up the mark.

Thanks Jeff!

I did some searching here on the forum and found some good reference pics for various stripe colors, so I should be able to at least get the shades in the ball park.

[Mike_B_SVT]

More Details...

I talked to Jack at Dead Nuts On (http://www.deadnutson.com/page/page/2526992.htm) and he told me that the 31 spline slip yokes were all the purple color shown on their site.  He said that the purple paint is very thin, and that many folks paint them pink because that is the color that the purple faded to over time.  He also said that they would have been painted before they were machined, so no paint on the machined surfaces. 

[J_Speegle]

More Details... he told me that the 31 spline slip yokes were all the purple color shown on their site.  He said that the purple paint is very thin,

There are yokes marked with pink  but here is an original example of an original purple marked yoke





 

He also said that they would have been painted before they were machined, so no paint on the machined surfaces. 

+1

[79mustangcobra]

Nice write up!  Thanks for posting.  What container did you put the drive-shaft in to submerse it into evaporust, a gutter?  Thanks again

[carlite65]

a 6' long 6" dia. PVC pipe capped on one end works great.

[Mike_B_SVT]

a 6' long 6" dia. PVC pipe capped on one end works great.

^^ I used a 4" PVC pipe, thinking that a 3" driveshaft would fit just fine ~ oh, except for those yokes that stick out a bit more! Oops!  Luckily it was one of those semi-flexible drain pipes, so I was able to wiggle and squeeze the DS into the tube, which bowed out just enough to accomodate.  I used 2 end caps ~ one of which I glued in place with "The Right Stuff" (because it would flex some with the pipe), and the other I just stuck on the top to keep from making a mess.

It cost me $15 for the pipe and two caps, and it took about 1.5gallons of Evaporust to fill it enough to cover the DS.  I left it in the dip for about 2 days, but my DS was pretty crusty.  Then I pulled it out and cleaned it some, then back in the dip for a few more days.  To get the DS out of the tube I wrapped some insulated wire through the yoke and pulled. 

If you are looking for signs of original paint after the Evaporust treatment, be careful when removing it from the tube.  If you rub / handle the DS any at all the paint will most likely be smeared / wiped away :-/

[J_Speegle]

Guys have built frames out of 2x4's then lined them with think plastic to form a basin or as you mentioned a capped rain gutter. Do prefer the PVC tubing

[Mike_B_SVT]

Ok, here are my "finished" pics!  I actually installed it yesterday.

I didn't spend a whole lot of time testing colors or mixing them, and my DS is still quite pitted, but it shined up nicely and is better than the crustyness that I started with :-)

I painted the DS yokes in Testors "Competition Orange", which comes in a small spray can.  I think it is close to the orangey-red that I found on the yoke originally, but probably could have been a shade or two more red. 




For applying the stripes I made some cheap rollers for about $6.50, and a piece of scrap wood and some extra screws.  Worked like a charm!




Testors also provided the stripe paints, in white, orange, light blue, red, and light green.  The LB and LG stripes probably should have been a shade or two lighter as well.  I also fiddled with the gun blue to re-darken the weld marks on the seam, ends, and weights.  It was alot easier than I thought it would be ~ thanks for the "how to" Jeff!  It took me a few tries to get the hang of it, and it still isn't "Great", but then neither is the rest of the car. 




For the slip yoke I found a small jar of Krylon "Iris" at Fred Meyer, so I used that.  Not as "royal" as the original examples.




The last pic includes the yoke after installing the u-joints (new style with zerks ~ what can I say, it's a driver), and I also reapplied the white Markal stripe down the length of the DS, as well as the white "X" I found over the red stripe.

[J_Speegle]

Looks good - Only thing you might consider next time is to run a hot torch over the end welds to bubble and discolor the paint that is on the yoke since the yokes were painted before they were attached.

[Mike_B_SVT]

Looks good - Only thing you might consider next time is to run a hot torch over the end welds to bubble and discolor the paint that is on the yoke since the yokes were painted before they were attached.

Thanks Jeff!  I thought about scorching it some with a match or lighter, LOL!  Didn't really want to mess it up though by fiddling around.
I figure if I get a wild hair I could try scorching it the next time I'm under the car.