Markings on XK140 driveshaft

Recently I had the opportunity to change out the Ujoints on my 140.
Upon disassembly, cleaning and painting, I noticed markings on almost every component of the driveshaft assembly, so I thought it would be fun to document the markings here.

I have two 140 driveshafts, and I had reinstalled the cleaned-up driveshaft before I noticed some of the markings, so the pictures include images from both driveshafts.

At the front, there is a flange yoke pictured here:

The flange yoke has the words Hardy Spicer, and also FK22GB121. The flange yoke attaches to an internally splined sleeve yoke by means of a Ujoint spider, pictured here:

The sleeve yoke is pictured here:


The sleeve yoke has lettering, looks like 1F7, and also sort of looks like JI 49. Importantly, there is an arrow marking stamped into it, which is used to align the two splined portions of the driveshaft. The yoke arms also have Hardy Spicer cast into them.

The internally splined sleeve yoke engages external splines at the front of the driveshaft. Three radial lines are stamped into the very front surface of the driveshaft.

The driveshaft has an X, and a matching arrow intended to line up with the arrow in the sleeve yoke:

A balancing weight is welded near the front of this driveshaft:

An identical weight is welded near the rear end of the driveshaft:

A second flange yoke and Ujoint ( not pictured) are at the rear end of the driveshaft assembly.
Both these driveshafts happen to have identical balancing weights on them.
Anyhow, some of the markings are: the manufacturers name, and probably part number. The two arrows are used to align the the sleeve yoke and the driveshaft yoke.
The meaning of the three radial lines, and the markings on the sleeve yoke, and on the weights, are unknown to me.

Gary,
Having done my apprenticeship as a machinist at Borg Warner Australia many years ago I think the three radial markings on the end of the shaft are a result of the machining process.

When the shaft/splines were hobbed the centre that goes in that end to hold it would include three sharp protrusions that would stop the shaft from turning during the process. I recall seeing similar marks on other shafts (pinions, axels, etc) that have splines on the end of them. Might be worth looking at the end of your torsion bars.

I agree that the three radial marks are part of the machining process as well,