So it appears that I have to replace that driveshaft on the manual 78 240D due to the PO letting the front flex disc fail. My question is: Are the driveshafts in a manual 240 the same as the ones in an automatic?

__________________

nope theres a diffrence of about 4"

That is correct.

__________________
1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

other than that they are the same.

heh heh

tom w

__________________
[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

slightly. Could one, then, use the driveshaft from a 240D auto when putting a 617 turbo in front of a manny 'box?

Jay.

__________________
On the road, currently:
'83 300D (German spec.) 168k mi. - - Wolfgang (tucked snugly away for the winter!)
'87 300D 375k mi. - finally went over to "The Dark Side"
'87 300TD 225k mi.
Cannondale 66cm CAAD5 w/Campy/Jamis Aurora
Hujsak Custom Fixie/Landshark Track Shark Custom/Ahearne Custom 29'er

It seems like you should be able to. The 240 auto shaft is about 4 inches shorter than the 240 manual shaft, and I had to shorten my 240 manual shaft 4 inches when I did my turbo conversion.

__________________
1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

Cool! Thanks, Brian.

Jay.

__________________
On the road, currently:
'83 300D (German spec.) 168k mi. - - Wolfgang (tucked snugly away for the winter!)
'87 300D 375k mi. - finally went over to "The Dark Side"
'87 300TD 225k mi.
Cannondale 66cm CAAD5 w/Campy/Jamis Aurora
Hujsak Custom Fixie/Landshark Track Shark Custom/Ahearne Custom 29'er

I would double check first with a tape measure if you are planning to use the auto drive shaft in a turbo/manual 240D conversion. If you want to shorten the manual shaft to use in the conversion driveline service in Portland did a phenomenal job on mine...it did cost about as much as the car though... $400. They shortened it, balanced it, replaced the U joint and replaced the carrier bearing.

__________________
1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

It won't work. If it did, none of us would be going to the trouble to get the driveshaft cut 4".

Has anybody measured it? I was thinking that nobody has used one because they don't want to go to the trouble of combining a Turbo 300D, a manual 240D and a auto 240D

__________________
1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

In the next couple days I'll check it out for sure. I've got the front "half" of a 240D auto 'shaft (somewhere!) and a couple euro 123's. Just have been too lazy to crawl under one with a tape.

Jay.

__________________
On the road, currently:
'83 300D (German spec.) 168k mi. - - Wolfgang (tucked snugly away for the winter!)
'87 300D 375k mi. - finally went over to "The Dark Side"
'87 300TD 225k mi.
Cannondale 66cm CAAD5 w/Campy/Jamis Aurora
Hujsak Custom Fixie/Landshark Track Shark Custom/Ahearne Custom 29'er

Even if it does fit together, the turbo driveshaft was made larger in OD, presumably to handle the greater torque output...(?)

The other issue with the 240D is that no 4 cylinder sits about 4" from the firewall. No 5 in a 300D is back against the firewall. Therefore the shafts would have to be different. And I am not sure of the dimensions of the 4 bolt vs. 6 bolt transmissions. There are a lot of differences that would have to line up for this to work.

__________________
80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)