driveshaft confusion

["Wayne Abbott" <wabbott@domain.elided>]

Hey Y'all,
I am working on the drive shaft of my 76 Alfetta GT.  Previously I purchased
the front, center, and rear giubos.  At the same time I also purchased the
center bearing.  At the time I could not source the center bearing support.
Many years have passed.  I recently removed the driveshaft from the car in
preparation for rebuild.  I just acquired what was supposed to be an early
Alfetta center bearing support.  It is different from the one on my car and
different from the support on the driveshaft of the parts car.  I had been
told that the newer style could be used if you move the hole on the long tab
to fit the studs, but this one has one short and one long mounting tab.  I
rolled under the alfetta to test the fit and see where I had to move the hole
to, but it fit perfectly.  It also seems that the center bearing will fit into
the support.

The new one has holes about 140 mm on center, the old one which I personally
removed has holes about 125 mm apart.  How can it fit?  Driveshaft gnomes came
in the night and switched it on me?

The new one will also hold the driveshaft 3/4 to 1 inch higher up into the
tunnel.

This center bearing support will move the driveshaft about 1/2 inch over to
the passengers side.  Is this an Alfa part?  Will this be ok or do I need to
keep looking for an early support or get a later model support and try to move
the hole?  If I do this, will the driveshaft be centered or is it now normally
slightly off center at this mounting point?


My driveshaft has a rubber seal over the metal centering bushings within the
flex joint.  Are these all the same, Alfetta through Milano?  I've only found
one listed for the Milano.

Does anyone out there have tremendous knowledge of the Alfetta driveshaft and
its iterations to share?

thanks,
Wayne Abbott
Durham, NC

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