correct angle for a drive shaft with 2 joints

You line it up and drill the holes. I would clamp the stringer mounts with C clamps, Stanley One Handed Squeeze clamps, what ever, and check the alignment by pulling the prop shaft and in and out of the coupler. Strut bushing needs to be in pretty good condition. But you are right, the V drive goes back exactly the way it came out. Unless it was wrong to start with, which I doubt.

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Originally Posted by SnoC653

He has said before that his strut is a 10* and his Vdrive is a 12*. If he changes to a 7 or 8* strut, that would put his Rewarders pointed almost up at the sky unless he changed Vdrives too.

It always amazes me when someone gets a boat to work and then they take it apart and don't record where everything was at before hand. Hopefully, he measured the angles of the prop shaft and driveshaft before he took it all apart. It is possible that his 10* strut was sitting at 9 or maybe 8.5* depending on how they had it sitting. In one of his other posts he said he had this one taking a good set finally. If so, that is where he should put everything back, unless he is planning on buying some new hardware (strut, v-drive, engine plates, possibly a shaft log).

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Unless its a drop thru strut, I doubt the angle was changed much from what it is simply bolted to the hull. Even with a drop thru, If he reinstalls it with the same holes drilled in the strut and mounting angles, its not going to change much.
If he put the strut back in the same place, All the angle figuring is done. Now its just a matter of putting the boat back together.

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Originally Posted by gn7

Unless its a drop thru strut, I doubt the angle was changed much from what it is simply bolted to the hull. Even with a drop thru, If he reinstalls it with the same holes drilled in the strut and mounting angles, its not going to change much.
If he put the strut back in the same place, All the angle figuring is done. Now its just a matter of putting the boat back together.

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I agree as long as they didn't do any filling on the bottom of the boat where the strut was located. I know on the Guasti, it had a 9* bronze strut. The bottom of the boat was ground down and when the strut was bolted to it, it sat at 8.25*. When I put the steel strut on it, I intend to have it sit at the same angle with the back of the barrel in the same location. The boat was rigged as a SBC boat before so I'll start back with what worked all those years ago. And before anything got filled, sanded, or touched, every piece of hardware was bolted back into the boat to make sure where it was originally located and at what angles.

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Originally Posted by gn7

His V drive angle is what the prop shaft angle says it its. No matter where the box gets mounted, the top shaft angle is going to be whatever it is due to the prop shaft ange. He could put a prop shaft in it that 4ft too long and the box is on the deck, the angle of the box is the same.

Where the box falls in the boat is determined by the shaft angle as well. You can move it forward, if you move it up like 2MM said, but who does that?
If you with the prop location, which is where you should start, then the v drive is where it is. When they used to sell stage one boats they had the strut installed. You didn't need to know where to put the box, it just went on the other end of the shaft.
Now if we move on to the engine, and decide it goes here>>>>+<<<<<<< you have really narrowed down you abilty to change the drive shaft angle.
Strut position and angle---check
v drive location and angle --check
engine location----check

so we are left with engine height, up and down(until the pan hits the floor), and tilt.

This is a MoPar RB. Odds of him getting the engine too low are slim and zero, so that leaves him with how many options to mess with drive shaft angle. Get that ONE remaining part wrong, and its the difference between a u joint that last a summer, or 10.

OR,..........we can build the entire boat around the idea of the perfect u joint angle.

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i do understand the only thing i could move is the motor up one end its definitely can't go down its a chrysler .. thanks it sounds good to me and i do undress and the vdrive will go on the end of the prop shaft and the top is what it is .

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Originally Posted by SnoC653

He has said before that his strut is a 10* and his Vdrive is a 12*. If he changes to a 7 or 8* strut, that would put his Rewarders pointed almost up at the sky unless he changed Vdrives too.

It always amazes me when someone gets a boat to work and then they take it apart and don't record where everything was at before hand. Hopefully, he measured the angles of the prop shaft and driveshaft before he took it all apart. It is possible that his 10* strut was sitting at 9 or maybe 8.5* depending on how they had it sitting. In one of his other posts he said he had this one taking a good set finally. If so, that is where he should put everything back, unless he is planning on buying some new hardware (strut, v-drive, engine plates, possibly a shaft log).

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the question was what angle should the u joints be ? , nothing has changed and yes i know exactly where every bolt was located and have templates .

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Originally Posted by WESTERNAERO

Micheal, when you get closer to putting this back together would you like me to make you something like the pic. I'll make a generic drawing, you plug it the numbers and I'll redraw it with your numbers. It might give you a better understanding if you are looking at it on paper. There are a lot more dimensions needed than the pic, that's just an example. Then you and Joe can go over it together and make adjustments where you need them.
Attachment 35564

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yes ill get you the dimensions i have and well go from there thank you

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Originally Posted by gn7

You line it up and drill the holes. I would clamp the stringer mounts with C clamps, Stanley One Handed Squeeze clamps, what ever, and check the alignment by pulling the prop shaft and in and out of the coupler. Strut bushing needs to be in pretty good condition. But you are right, the V drive goes back exactly the way it came out. Unless it was wrong to start with, which I doubt.

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yes brand new bushings and that is how it will be set , i was thinking of leveling the motor out a few degrees

no work on the bottom other than a little cosmetic..

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Originally Posted by ogshotgun

yes brand new bushings and that is how it will be set , i was thinking of leveling the motor out a few degrees

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If your strut is set, then your engine tilt is already cast in stone. You can move the engine up, down, forward or back, but the angle is a done deal.

Its this simple. Take the flywheel end and get it as close to the bottom of the boat that you dare. Put a magnetic bubble protractor, or incline meter/gauge/angle finder on the v drive input companion flange, and read the angle. Now put the angle finder on the flywheel and tilt the engine until they match. Done.

You can't get the engine low enough, and anything higher than necessary only adds angle to the u joints.

Its that easy.

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Originally Posted by gn7

If your strut is set, then your engine tilt is already cast in stone. You can move the engine up, down, forward or back, but the angle is a done deal.

Its this simple. Take the flywheel end and get it as close to the bottom of the boat that you dare. Put a magnetic bubble protractor, or incline meter/gauge/angle finder on the v drive input companion flange, and read the angle. Now put the angle finder on the flywheel and tilt the engine until they match. Done.

You can't get the engine low enough, and anything higher than necessary only adds angle to the u joints.

Its that easy.

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perfect thank you very much