Bugatti Type 57S propshaft
Bill asked if I could help him with his prop shaft dilemma. The original from the car was in very poor condition and had worn spiders from where the bolts had been probably come loose and worn the holes into ovals. Bill already had a solution, he had purchased from Molsheim a brand new propshaft, but for a long wheel base car. “Andrew can you shorten it for me”, I said “uh yes I guess”. Please read on for how Bugatti made their propshafts!
Bugatti short wheel base propshaft
The spider is soft soldered onto the tube, so once the fixings are drilled out you need to heat up the spider and sit it in the press and the tube will slowly fall out of the spider with the lightest of force.
Bugatti long wheel base propshaft
Using the original drawings from the Bugatti Trust allowed the pinpointing of the hidden fixings.
Soldering the spider onto the tube and fixing
The tricky part of shortening an already assembled propshaft is that you have to carefully drill the holes in the tube while using the existing threads in the spider. It takes time, but with a milling machine and the little drill jig you can get it perfect. Next operation is to get it balanced.
Balancing the propshaft
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Propshaft running on balancer
Propshaft ready for paint
