Chapter 15 - Driveshaft Dreams
On the Corvette, a short driveshaft transfers power from the transmission to the rear wheels. But, now with the transmission completely removed, a longer driveshaft needs to be made. Brad and I take careful measurements and decide that a 45.5-inch driveshaft will do the trick. This is NOT a do-it-yourself project!
There are shops that do nothing but repair radiators, others do nothing but replace brakes, and now I find out that some shops just make drive shafts. Made to order, one at a time. Proven Force, a local shop, gets the job done in less than a week.
As you can see in the photo below, the electric motor slip yoke is noticeably larger than the slip yoke for the old V-8 engine. This hints, I think, at the greater power of the Warp 11.
Bolting the new driveshaft in place went smoothly and I decided to give it a spin.
After jacking up the rear end, I attached one 12-volt battery to the electric motor.
Nothing moved. I wired two batteries to the Warp 11. The wheels still didn't turn. Time to worry. It looked like yet another unseen problem.
Finally, not knowing what else to do, I decided to turn on my brain. Perhaps the driveshaft would turn more easily, if I turned the parking brake off! With this taken care of, only one battery was needed to spin the rear tires. Progress feels great.