Are you sure ????...coz at Benaraby, gotta have a loop no matter what.

i've never herd you need a loop fullstop, i could understand if you're running 11's or quicker

Bit of a read but heres the andra rules
Tailshaft loops are highly recommended for all vehicles. Where a
cross-member is not in the vicinity of the front universal joint, all unmodified
street based vehicles using supercharged, turbo or nitrous engines, all
modified vehicles, vehicles with non-original engines, and all competition
vehicle with rear wheel drive, capable of elapsed times quicker than 13.00
(1/4 mile)/8.30 (1/8 mile), using open drive shafts, must have a retainer
loop: 360 degrees of enclosure, 3mm (1/8 inch) minimum thickness and
50mm (2 inches) wide, or 22mm (7/8 inch) x 1.62mm (.065 inch) welded
steel tubing, securely mounted and located within 150mm (6 inches) of
the front universal joint for support of the drive shaft in event of universal
joint failure. It is recommended that the loop be round to minimise I 222 I 223
GEN REGS
4
loading. On rear wheel drive sedans with fabricated floors, the width and
location of the loop should take into account the location of the front yoke
and universal in relation to the driver. Rear wheel drive sedans with a
fabricated floor where the drive line passes any part of the driver’s body,
must have the driveline enclosed in a 360 degrees tube made of 3mm (1/8
inch) steel plate or 1.27mm (.050”) CM4130 as a minimum, be securely
mounted to the frame or frame structure covering the front universal
joint and extending rearward a minimum of 305mm (12 inches) from the
centre of the joint. An anti-rotation device is mandatory in any car where
the driver sits over or behind the rear axle

Thats strange, I was told I had to have one no matter what. Either way though, for the cost of an offcut of 3mm flat bar and a half hour, its a worthwhile thing. I've never been to Palmyra (even though I lived in Mackay most of my life) but I imagine they have a VHT lane, these are big old heavy cars, wouldnt want the uni to snap!

Yeah better to be safe than sorry.

Noting there it's purpose is for front uni failure..

Some older cars (old statis and kingswoods) have a wide crossmember that if the uni fails the shaft would hit it, so I guess in that case you would be covered..

However AFAIK up here a street car dosnt require one to go down the strip... Your not gonna drill holes in your BA to put in a shaft loop when you only go to the drags twice a year, even if your car is modified and can do a 12...

Is that excerpt edited or straight cut and pasted?

It seems a little miss worded..

"It is highly recommended"

But then

all unmodified street based vehicles using supercharged, turbo or nitrous engines, all
modified vehicles, vehicles with non-original engines, and all competition
vehicle with rear wheel drive, capable of elapsed times quicker than 13.00
(1/4 mile)/8.30 (1/8 mile), using open drive shafts, must have a retainer
loop.

So is it only required for all cars doing quicker than a 13 by that, because the wording seems to only apply the time to the "and all competition vehicles with rear wheel drive etc...

Also what is an unmodified street based car.. And how can it have nos if its unmodified??

I actually know a bloke who was in a 6 cylinder HQ Kingswood ( he was a passenger) sedan that was on the highway at 100 kmh, out near Emerald, and the front uni let go, and it flipped the car end over, and skated down the road on the roof, then went off the road and rolled down a gully.
He lost the bottom of his left leg, and the driver died.
He works as an Orderly at the Rocky Base Hospital.

Soooooo.....the gearbox Xmember doesn't catch the tailshaft.

It was more as an example of a car with a crossmember that catches the shaft as the only other one I could think of was a pajero, but there aren't many if any of those flying down the strip LOL..

But that's also on a straight drop an a moving car still has a spinning shaft so it could have rolled off to the side a little and dropped anyway, didn't think of that last night, thanks to tequila.. , and at worst id imagine the shaft keeps rolling to the side anyway and would do nothing more than mess up the underside of the car..

Also

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=5eNbK2ALDAY

Sooo, not saying your story isn't true, just highly unlikely to happen and the one in a million if it did. Poor bloke though losing his leg..

I don't think andra are worried about cars flipping over, but having a preventable accident on the track in any way.. Prevention is the best cute type thing.

Onto the rest of what I said, it's still worded interestingly and I'm still wondering

Is that excerpt edited or straight cut and pasted?

It seems a little miss worded..

"It is highly recommended"

But then

all unmodified street based vehicles using supercharged, turbo or nitrous engines, all
modified vehicles, vehicles with non-original engines, and all competition
vehicle with rear wheel drive, capable of elapsed times quicker than 13.00
(1/4 mile)/8.30 (1/8 mile), using open drive shafts, must have a retainer
loop.

So is it only required for all cars doing quicker than a 13 by that, because the wording seems to only apply the time to the "and all competition vehicles with rear wheel drive etc...

Also what is an unmodified street based car.. And how can it have nos if its unmodified??

Might do some searching today..

im listening, could you elaborate on the downgrading belt setup?

The Commodores.....I think VB to VL had a little extra Xmember, that didn't hold anything, were behind the G'box Xmember.......thems the ones you were thinkin of ???

CJH: Yeah schkrommondores have the centre bearing, another example. I think BA onwards have a split tailshaft too..?

NLFairlane: get all the gear off an EA-ED to fit it to yours.

Swap harmonic balancer, change the alternator mounts over, you can throw away your AC compressor and the belt tensioner.

Swap the water pump for the earlier one (might need to custom the lower radiator hose to fit)

Swapping the timing cover will make it easier to get the TDC marks right, but you can get clever and measure off an EL and and ED one and find a common spot to mark it at for the ED TDC mark on the EF cover.

You will also need the EA-ED p steer pump and fit that, same mounts though memory.

I can't remember off hand but once you have compared the 2 you will see, but you will see any other differences between that you need to swap, but I'm pretty sure that's pretty much it.

The serpentine belt system is more effecient than the old EA-ED belts system. You can replace the AC with a pulley, they are available.

Yes, or gut the AC compressor as in a thread on here and lose a few kilos through that..

But the main part with it isn't efficiency, it's weight reduction..

Sounds like something to do further down the track. thanks for the input

Well today ive installed the linelock and started on enclosing the boot. some small jobs left to do and should be ready for friday.

Make sure you do the speaker holes and the rear seat belt mounting holes too.