Rubber torsion transmission hub remold

[chistech]

My spare ‘32 olds transmission driveshaft hub has a rubber poured or molded spline to driveshaft flange joint that has become extremely soft and is deteriorated. Does anyone know of a shop who can repour the rubber insert? 

[60FlatTop]

You may get help from a company like Steele rubber who remolds engine mounts. They or their provider probably have molding jigs for various jobs.

 

Another source could be a nonferrous metal casting job shop. They could make a mold.

 

Depending on the fitment to the shaft "billet" rubber can be machined. If is a spline a rubber block can be drilled and broached to fit.

 

My BMW used a "gimbal" joint in the driveshaft. They are fairly common in automotive and industrial use. One of those may be adaptable to your car with a little redesign or adapter.

 

Anywhere near western New York or have a couple of pictures?

[Gary_Ash]

Then and Now Automotive in Weymouth does vulcanizing of rubber-to-metal parts.  Give them a call.  781.335.8860

 

[nearchoclatetown]

How about a picture of the part from different sides?

[TTR]

On 5/8/2024 at 5:24 AM, nearchoclatetown said:

How about a picture of the part from different sides?

I’ll second that ^^, especially since I don’t know what referred ‘32 Olds components look like.

 

I’ve casted/fabricated/poured/re-molded/etc various elastic components for vintage cars, including enclosed driveshaft housing-to-transmission couplers, etc using various compounds and methods, but it’s difficult to offer advice or suggestions without seeing details and other requirements, like measurements, etc.

 

Edited May 13 by TTR (see edit history)

[chistech]

Just saw this, been away from the computer. I’ll get some pictures of the part in question.

[chistech]

Here is the driveshaft flange in question. This picture shows one of my spares but it evidently was cracked at one time, repaired but not well, and has a low area where it rides in the rear seal.This picture shows the repaired area.this is another spare that had that the rubber had failed. It was soft and gooey allowing the draft shaft flange to move back against the freewheeling unit housing and seal.This is the inner assembly for the hub. It too cleaned off fairly easy and is in good condition.Here is the inner hub inside the outer hub. The inside hub is higher than it should be because it’s sitting on the board.

Im holding the outer hub up so the inner hub is at the correct height.Here is the outside of the outer hub and its gasket surface is in very good condition. You can see a worn lip from where the hub moved forward into the freewheeling housing because the rubber insert failed. I can clean it up some on the lathe as it doesn’t matter for any sealing purposes.

[nearchoclatetown]

You could cast that yourself. There is liquid casting urethane available from several sources. I buy from MSC and would use 80 durometer, liquid not putty. The metal has to be cleaned of ALL oils, glass beaded if possible. Seal the bottom with tape or clay. Suspend the part in the proper position and pour in the liquid. It sets up in about 24 hour hours and you can trim it with a razor blade if needed at that point. After a few days you won't be able to trim it very easily as it cures. Practice on a piece of metal, let it cure and try to remove the urethane after about a week. It really bonds good. Mixing the right amount of A and B is important, use a gram scale.

[chistech]

Thats a great Idea. I will glass bead it as I have access to a blast cabinet. The bottom is actually sealed by the inner piece that fills the diameter of the opening in the hub. I believe I can lift the inner hub slightly while still keeping it in the hole of the outer hub to ease getting the urethane in plus when I push the inner hub down to it's proper height it will force the urethan up and out of the perimeter holes plus hopefully remove any air pockets.