Topic: Cleaning a driveshaft

[carlite65]

what did you expect to hear?? applied for your sheets yet??

[dkknab]

Yes I've asked for my judging sheets.  That's what I meant by my post.

[Flade]

Looks great.  What did you do to keep it from rusting again?

[Flade]

Well not what I expected at all.

Only a single white stripe?

[Bob Gaines]

Looks great.  What did you do to keep it from rusting again?

  I use T9 there are other good products on the market. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001447PEK

[Flade]

Thanks, I have a bottle but haven?t tried it on anything yet.  I guess the driveshaft will be the guinea pig!

[Flade]

Well not what I expected at all.

Only a single white stripe?

Anyone have an Idea why my drive shaft has only a single white stripe?

[Bob Gaines]

Anyone have an Idea why my drive shaft has only a single white stripe?

Just because you only see one stripe now doesn't mean that there was not more stripes when it was newer. The stripes most likely flaked prior to you starting to clean off or the evoporust remove what was left of evidence of their placement.

[Flade]

Entirely possible, but the white line was VERY visible even before cleaning, and after cleaning even where is is gone you can see that it had been there. Yet there is absolutely no evidence of any other stripe.  Seems odd that they would be such a difference.  But after 50+ years anything is possible I Guess.   

Are there any other documented cars with only a single stripe in 68?

[J_Speegle]

Entirely possible, but the white line was VERY visible even before cleaning, and after cleaning even where is is gone you can see that it had been there. Yet there is absolutely no evidence of any other stripe.  Seems odd that they would be such a difference.  But after 50+ years anything is possible I Guess.   

Are there any other documented cars with only a single stripe in 68?

Not that I've seen in over 40 years of documenting these details. Suggest that they were there since without the matching stripes shown on the buildsheet the workers would not know what to do with a driveline striped incorrectly. Easier to toss aside and grab one that matched. We do see mistakes where the order of colors (front to back) get reversed from time to time but the workers figured that out quickly. Possible the two other stripes used paints that was applied thinner or "watered down" so it went away quicker that the white and in turn rusted over that surface so that the tail tail signs were gone. Allot more possible in regions of this country where bare metal rusted quickly

[Flade]

Thanks Jeff,

I?ll chock it up as just another mystery.  I finished soaking it in Evaporust and it looks great. 

How far apart should the stripes be?   
Should it have the red stripe at one end like I see in some pics?

68 convertible, San Jose built in late 68 (28 May), 289 C4.

[dkknab]

Here are 2 pictures of my driveshaft locating the 4 lines.  I measured from the rear edge of the outer tube.

[jwc66k]

Consider this. The assembly line worker doing that same job 8 hours a day, 5 days a week (or more on OT) was bored. The location of the actual stripes were not a precision task. I would assume that the shafts were positioned horizontally on a table like fixture and rolled to get the paint colors, width and locations of the stripes from another fixture. The worker was not an artist. In other words, location accuracy was not critical. Colors and position were.
The actual colors are the main concern. As Ford was known to be a frugal corporation, it's quite possible that the paint used was exterior or interior "dregs" from the bottom of a 55 gallon drum of a required color close in tint.
Just some thoughts.
Over the years, I've know many former Milpitas Assembly Plant workers and they had some "interesting" stories.
Jim

[J_Speegle]

Guess it should be mentioned that the drivelines were not made or marked by San Jose workers on any other Ford/Merc car assembly plant

We can likely guess that the position of applying the markings being discussed was either given to one of the newest less skilled workers or one of the more senior workers that wanted an easy job due to seniority/union reasons

[Flade]

Thanks David, using your measurements, and the position of my white line I can make it look good.

Does anyone have a favorite color for the Lavender, and dark green paints?