Talk Morgan Forums Community Vehicle Talk (non-Morgan) M3W Homebuild

It is a double roller chain and sprockets from Cloyes that is typically used in high performance big block chevrolet engines making well over 1000hp driving the camshaft. I worked with the manufacturer on the engineering specs to get the numbers right. The whole system will be submerged in gear oil as well. This chain has over 13000 lbs tensile strength.The fatigue life should be excellent as well given the applied loads.

Machine work on the transfer case housings is now complete. this weekend I milled all the outside edges so they match, drilled and tapped the fill and drain plug locations, final fit the bores for the bearings and chamfered all the holes and edges. I took the parts to work and gave them a blast with aluminum oxide so they are ready for powder coat now.

I hit a milestone today. I now have the T-Case powder coated,bearings installed and finished fitting the shafts in place. Everything fits good and the motion is smooth. I am content with the results.

Good news Rob, thanks for the update that really looks the business and glad it's running freely

Thanks, the castings could have turned out a bit better but it is designed like a tank so I am confident it can handle more load than it will ever see. I have decided on the design of the input shaft splines and will be making the coupler soon so it will mate up to the Miata driveshaft.

After debating on the input shaft spline design I decided to use what is already proven to work. I ordered another BMW driveshaft from ebay and cut off the splined section. It was cheaper to do this as I already had the proper spline cutter on hand from cutting the output shaft. I then cut the input shaft splines and did a 3 pass weld on the cut section of the driveshaft to a 1/2" thick plate of steel. The plate was then milled out and drilled to match the existing Mazda Miata driveshaft. Since welding removed the heat treating on the cut spline section, I'll be re-heat treating is when I do the input and output shaft splines. At this point I have successfully linked the Miata transmission the whole way back to the rear wheel.

I have also determined what pieces I am going to use for the intermediate shaft between the engine and flywheel. I should have those parts in hand this week and can start getting the fine details figured out. It should be bulletproof and maintenance free if all works out.

I hope that's not blood on the workbench!

LOL, Thankfully not, it's paint or stain. I have already shed blood on this project and I am sure I will do it again though.

I got the main parts for the intermediate shaft today. The pinion gear is out of a Ford 9" rear end and will be getting annealed so it can be machined to proper dimensions. It will also have a flange on it to mount to the crankshaft of the BMW. This is the layout of the shaft parts. There will be no u-joints required,or centa drive. The spline coupler in the middle allows for any misalignment that may occur as well.

I also got the gasket for the transfer case lasered out tonight. I am down to fabricating the keys for the sprockets and it is all done from a fabrication stance.

I got the pinion gear annealed and all roughed down today. thats A LOT of material removed. Also started working on the drawings for the crankshaft adapter flange.