I've been running around in front wheel drive since I blew the halfshaft,
and it wasn't pretty. Vibrations, funny handling, and totally weird
cornering in the snow. I was dead set not to spend any money on the rover
rear end as I need to save up my student money for the new rear end.
Obviously, buying a new halfshaft was out of the question as I wanted to
keep the cash for my new parts.
I decided to try and make one. I grabbed a spare series 10 spline shaft, and
removed the broken shaft from the Land-Rover. I have 10 spline rangie axles
so the spline pattern at the diff is the same, but the outer spline and
length is all wrong.
So, I cut the broken halfshaft about 12" away from where it broke (at the
diff) and cut the spare shaft so I had at the right length. By holding these
shafts end to end I had a proper length, 10 spline halfshaft. 1958 rover
inner, 1990 rangie outer. All I needed was to make these two parts become
one by way of a welder.
I cut a large, square notch down to the center of the shaft in both pieces,
about an inch wide (1/2" on both pieces). I welded up this notch with 6013
until it was completely filled up with weld, and then ground the surface
down. I then rotated the shaft, cut a notch of the same dimensions that went
right down to the weld I had laid, and then filled this side up. The shaft
was relatively straight, but it needed some work. I heated it up a bit, then
laid a bead on the surface of the shaft on the "elbow" of the bend, and as
this weld bead cooled on the shaft surface, it pulled the shaft back to
straightness. I then ground all this mess off and got the shaft right down
to almost stock proportions (so it would slide through the stub axle) and
reinstalled it.
I was a little sceptical at first, but I did hammer the throttle a bit on
the way home and it held up very well. I'm not going to take it off-road in
this state, but I'm sure it will do for driving around town.
New "hybrid" halfshaft - cost - 4$ of 6013 1/8 rod.
J-L
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