For the sake of the folks who like to look under the frame I will replace the eyebolts with 1/2" Adel clips tomorrow. I found a guy at the Ashland Car Quest who is the most knowledgeable so far and he ordered a pack of 6 1/2" clips for the princely sum of $3.50 so I can use the same holes as the eyebolts and gain about 1/2" additional height over the drive shaft. I was mainly concerned about the side strength when the brake cable are taunt. As Dave says I had considered grommets but they only would allow a 90 degree turn and I think a gentle angle will avoid cutting the cable cover. To change the subject slightly I would rate the "rodder helpfullness" factor in my area as:

1. Car Quest
2. Auto Zone
3. Advanced Auto
4. NAPA

Maybe this is because the Car Quest guy has a Chevy street rod and one of his employees has a "built/restored" Mustang fastback. Auto Zone has the nice feature of loaning tools for a refundable deposit. Here NAPA seems to be only a supplier of standard parts and not much help on special problems. Maybe the Car Quest would only be parts except for the fact that the guys have their own rods. Advanced Auto has standard aftermarket stuff, but not many special parts.

I am inclined to forget the driveshaft loop. I have never had a universal fail under normal to heavy acceleration on a number of cars and as long as I don't plan to run at a strip I think I can get away without a loop. The worst I have ever encountered is the usual "clank" when you go into reverse with a worn u-joint and I would surely replace the u-joint as soon as that becomes evident. I will also look into some of the references C9 gives but I would not favor the massive one I got from Speedway. It looked like it was intended for use with an X-crossmember which makes sense for a lot of cars but I don't have an X-member. Do I have to have a u-joint for an NSRA inspection? I will read the one Tech1 linked to but I believe it is optional for the street. Thanks all for many helpful suggestions.

Don Shillady
Retired Scientist/teen rodder