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I just placed an order for some new Lovejoy coupler parts.
Yesterday, I took my broken coupler bits and transmission over to Tom's house, where he and some other guys were working on his Neon conversion.
I showed them the battle damage, and what my thoughts were on the why and how it happened.
I got input from a couple of different people of ways to make my new adapter better than the old one.
Here is my basic plan for the new coupler:
Still sticking with the Lovejoy style connection, but:
Will use a larger style coupler - they can carry more torque, have more area to weld to or trim on the lathe.
Going to use the fancier spider - it can carry more torque and is less rubbery.
Going to modify the Lovejoys to have sort of a "cap" that will prevent them from sliding on the shaft farter than even with the end of the shaft. This will keep the coupler in position without using Loctite, (not strong) or set screws, which can acually throw off the centering.
I will also bench test the motor and transmission to each other and get alignment perfect, then torque the connecting bolts really well, borrow an engine hoist, have a couple friends come over, and install the motor/tranny assembly all at once into the car.
The parts should come in a few days. I should be able to work on actually making the finished couplers at the end of the week, or this weekend. Then I will have to plan a "put it in" date as soon as I can after than.
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