Hello People.

I'm building a one off based on the ariel atom and need to widen the track by 100mm per side, which means lengthening the drive shafts.

Has anyone done this? Or would it be cheaper / easier to have some new ones made? Or could I get them from a different vehicle?

I thought about the "locost" route of wheel spacers instead, but 100mm per side I feel is not practical.

My donor is an MGF which has a track of 1400mm and the Ariel Atom is 1600. Easy enough to do on the front, simply design the wishbones to suit, but on the rear...

Can't see why not. My driveshafts (Lobro type) were shortened by chopping and sleeving then welding. Cannot see why the sleeve couldn't contain a solid central section to lengthen it. Would mean making the sleeve out of toughened metal I suspect which might not be much fun to machine / weld but certainly should be very possible. If you want some nice hardened steel in N W London let me know- got a Land Rover driveshaft knocking about for a failed project which is mighty thick and should be a good option for suitable metal...

The standard method is to friction weld a section in the middle. There are specialist companies that can do this see:http://sylvabuild.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/the-drive-shafts-and-rolling-chassis.html

There are a number of shafts that use the same cv's, R100 family etc. So you may be able to find something for the shorter of the 2 shafts quite easily.

Subaru shafts use the same inner CV splines too, not sure about the outer ends though. Think some fords too (poss escort) but goodness knows where you can get the precise info...
(my knowledge comes from swapping a scooby diff into a spitfire, that uses R100 shafts....)

From previous posts I've seen on here, even custom driveshafts aren't as expensive as one might expect. They will already have the tooling necessary to create the splined ends, just running a slightly longer piece of metal shouldn't cause them too much issue.

Get in contact with one local to you, explain your situation (or even take your driveshafts with you) and see what they can offer.

These guys? Bailey & Morris
HTH.
Cheers, Pewe10

Last thing you want is for a driveshaft to let go, think I would get a pair made, as indicated it's not as expensive as you might think.
Had mine made by GB Engineering, good few years ago though, so dunno if they are still trading.

Thanks for your input guys.

Looking more logically at the problem I have realised that just getting another "long" shaft and swapping it for the short one will do the trick.

That's a proper locost solution ;-)