U-joint driveline modifications, Continued: Making U-joint fixing pins
Factor drivelines use roll-pins for retaining rag-joint yokes. For my U-joint conversion, I use allen-head bolts, turned down to 0.250". This allows disengagement and removal of the driveshaft and U-joints without having to hold a drift-pin and swing a hammer around hydraulic lines and a plastic fan. This concept, with the U-joint arrangement's ability to let the driveshaft 'collapse' into the U-joint, thus disengaging the 'anti-launch' pin from the rag-joint, making removal of the U-joint MUCH easier, and MUCH quicker than the factory arrangement. If you're running a drive-belt off the small accessory pulley, you'll find it quick-and-easy to change the belt. Here's how I make the pin;
Take a stainless-steel Allen-head bolt (about 2" long), thread a nut down to the head. Chuck the HEAD of the bolt in the lathe... or if you don't have a lathe, use a drill press.
Cut off all the exposed threads... and turn it down to 0.250". I use a curved-point 'finishing' tool in the lathe- they do a nice job without yanking the workpiece out... mind you, my lathe is geriatric, so I have to do some pretty unprofessional things to get decent results. An alternative to a lathe-tool, one could use a file, or a grinder... whatever you've got will probably work with enough patience. When you're done, it looks like this
But you'll see that when installed,
there's a little interferance between the bottom edge of the Allen head and the yoke arm. In this case, I...
chuck the freshly-turned end of the bolt into the drill-press, and chamfer the underside of the bolt with a file, and brighten it up with a sanding disk in one of my 4.5" disk-grinders...
and while I'm at it, I wipe off the casting mark along the yoke's edge, as it fouls the bolt a little, too... and the end result looks like: