I am building a 68 ss 396 BB with a 400 turbo trans.I need a drive shaft that can hold up to the horses it will produce. I also have a question on what stall converter I can use and still be streetable. I am new to this, any input would be wonderful.. Thnx Bill:yes:

As for the driveshaft, call these guys Dennysdriveshaft.com (http://www.dennysdriveshaft.com/index.html) They are awesome to deal with, make an awesome part and won't oversell to you, you tell them your plans and they will make a reccomendation. It's a long way from AZ., but I live in Washington and waited the few extra days to get mine, it was a great experience buying parts, which happens all to rarely anymore.
As for the converter, post the specifics about your car (motor, HP and torque, gears, weight, camshaft, etc) under a new topic in the peformance section, (or possibly engines and drivetrain but I think this one fits better in performance), and you'll get lots of input from guys that have been there before.
Good luck!

As for the driveshaft, call these guys Dennysdriveshaft.com (http://www.dennysdriveshaft.com/index.html) They are awesome to deal with, make an awesome part and won't oversell to you, you tell them your plans and they will make a reccomendation. It's a long way from AZ., but I live in Washington and waited the few extra days to get mine, it was a great experience buying parts, which happens all to rarely anymore.
As for the converter, post the specifics about your car (motor, HP and torque, gears, weight, camshaft, etc) under a new topic in the peformance section, (or possibly engines and drivetrain but I think this one fits better in performance), and you'll get lots of input from guys that have been there before.
Good luck!

X2. Dennys built the h/d aluminum d/s for my drag car, excellent service, great guys.

Has Denny's done anything about their backlog? I've called them several times in the past few years, and every time their lead time was about 1 month.

Has Denny's done anything about their backlog? I've called them several times in the past few years, and every time their lead time was about 1 month.

i called a few weeks back and he was 6 week wait

It depends on the time of year too, because of all the racers that use them. But, I waited about 4 weeks total time, and it showed up EXACTLY when they said it would on the day I ordered it, it was going to be a day later and they paid the extra money to rush delivery.
Way I look at it, if getting it soon is primary you may want to look at another place, but if quality and great customer service matters, wait the time for Dennys, it will be on your car a long time to come, so whats a couple extra weeks right now?
There is a reason they have a backlog, I'm sure they could hire on people and mass produce, but possibly at the cost of quality.
That was my take at least, and I'm happy I waited, it was a tough wait but long forgoten now. :thumbsup:

I don't know about where you are but any fair size city here has a driveline shop. I would call around locally and see. The key question to ask is if they have a balancer, if they do they should be able to build as good a shaft as anybody else.
A lot of machine shops build them as well without a balancer, if they build it straight 9 times out of 10 it won't need to be balanced.

Why won't a stock driveshaft work? 450hp isn't *that* huge of a hp/tq number, especially if you're looking to street it? The original to the car driveshaft seems to be holding up fine in our Camaro, and it's probably putting 450hp to the wheels...

Why won't a stock driveshaft work? 450hp isn't *that* huge of a hp/tq number, especially if you're looking to street it? The original to the car driveshaft seems to be holding up fine in our Camaro, and it's probably putting 450hp to the wheels...


I agree and know guys running more through a stock shaft,but if he added nitrous down the road he'd be pushing it for sure. If he does build a new one now he'll never have to worry about it.

Why won't a stock driveshaft work? 450hp isn't *that* huge of a hp/tq number, especially if you're looking to street it? The original to the car driveshaft seems to be holding up fine in our Camaro, and it's probably putting 450hp to the wheels...

I own and drag race a low 9 second 4th gen T/A and spend alot of time at the track. My 408 makes just over 500RWHP N/A and right at 750 RWHP N20. I've seen driveshafts twist with less than 450 RWHP, I'd rather not have to worry about losing a d/s on the big end. IIRC my Denny's shaft was about $500.00 and well worth it.

I own and drag race a low 9 second 4th gen T/A and spend alot of time at the track. My 408 makes just over 500RWHP N/A and right at 750 RWHP N20. I've seen driveshafts twist with less than 450 RWHP, I'd rather not have to worry about losing a d/s on the big end. IIRC my Denny's shaft was about $500.00 and well worth it.
What driveshaft? Original bbc pieces, or original sbc pieces, or something late model, or...? I'm all about overbuilding stuff, but I think a lot is gonna depend on what tires and if someone's gonna be spraying...I think it's gonna be hard to see the kind of hook you're gonna need to twist one on a set of drag radials, and spraying a car puts an abnormal spike in the power band (and terminal velocity more than likely) where there's usually not one. I'm gonna bet that you'll eat a pinion or a u-joint before you twist the driveshaft...a good start might be a set of zert-less joints.

I had a '69 Chevelle, 454 w/merlin heads/intake/1050, 5.13s, THM400 w/brake...I ran slicks on that car for a couple years and the stock driveshaft lived through it all, so who knows? I've also been in/out a bunch of my buddies' pulling trucks, and seen a lot of stock driveshafts live when they shouldn't have, and you're not gonna get any more stress than that. But, if you're sweatin' it, there ain't nothing wrong with a Denny's piece...

What driveshaft? Original bbc pieces, or original sbc pieces, or something late model, or...? I'm all about overbuilding stuff, but I think a lot is gonna depend on what tires and if someone's gonna be spraying...I think it's gonna be hard to see the kind of hook you're gonna need to twist one on a set of drag radials, and spraying a car puts an abnormal spike in the power band (and terminal velocity more than likely) where there's usually not one. I'm gonna bet that you'll eat a pinion or a u-joint before you twist the driveshaft...a good start might be a set of zert-less joints.

I had a '69 Chevelle, 454 w/merlin heads/intake/1050, 5.13s, THM400 w/brake...I ran slicks on that car for a couple years and the stock driveshaft lived through it all, so who knows? I've also been in/out a bunch of my buddies' pulling trucks, and seen a lot of stock driveshafts live when they shouldn't have, and you're not gonna get any more stress than that. But, if you're sweatin' it, there ain't nothing wrong with a Denny's piece...

Most that I've seen twist were stock D/S in 4th gen F bodies with TH-400's on drag slicks but I have seen them twist on MT drag radials also. The pic below is my 99 T/A coming out of the hole on N20 with slicks. 408 iron block, TH-400, 12 bolt w/3:73 gears. Best pass so far is a 9.23@149.1 on a 1.30 60ft.
http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/3862/bumperdrag6kn.th.jpg (http://img519.imageshack.us/my.php?image=bumperdrag6kn.jpg)

Most that I've seen twist were stock D/S in 4th gen F bodies with TH-400's on drag slicks but I have seen them twist on MT drag radials also.
Well there ya go...4th gens come with an aluminum driveshaft from the factory if I'm not mistaken [I'll have to crawl under ours and refresh my memory!]. An original 1st gen bbc d/s is gonna be a heavy steel piece that should be able to take a bit of punishment...I'd actually say that the u-joint is gonna be the weak link, especially a guy's running a joint with a zert fitting.

Absolutely *killer* shot of your T/A! That mph is just rediculous! We recently sold our '99 'Vette that I always wanted to put a set of m/t's on and play with, but we let it go before we ever had a chance...had a worked 383 from MTI, and the entire drivetrain was beefed from MTI...put out right around 470hp to the wheels, but then we had a little dry shot on top of that. Thing was a rocket...

Well there ya go...4th gens come with an aluminum driveshaft from the factory if I'm not mistaken [I'll have to crawl under ours and refresh my memory!]. An original 1st gen bbc d/s is gonna be a heavy steel piece that should be able to take a bit of punishment...I'd actually say that the u-joint is gonna be the weak link, especially a guy's running a joint with a zert fitting.

Absolutely *killer* shot of your T/A! That mph is just rediculous! We recently sold our '99 'Vette that I always wanted to put a set of m/t's on and play with, but we let it go before we ever had a chance...had a worked 383 from MTI, and the entire drivetrain was beefed from MTI...put out right around 470hp to the wheels, but then we had a little dry shot on top of that. Thing was a rocket...

Thank you. That picture was taken by a professional drag racing photographer and was published in GM High Tech Performance magazine. The car went about 230ft down the track sitting on the rear bumper. It's now a TTT5 T/S car. This is what it looks like now.

http://img266.imageshack.us/img266/7941/img0030xw9.th.jpg (http://img266.imageshack.us/my.php?image=img0030xw9.jpg)