when out driving today....

[reidalpine]

as roads are now bare and dry I've used the opportunity to do some breaking-in
when all of a sudden it felt like both motor and gearbox were about to take off..
HEAVY judders and b4 I could stop one of the the (new reburb'd) driveshafts split
in the middle of the tulip.joint spitting out the 3 rings sat on that "tripod" inside..
Got Roffen towed home ,tried ordering new shaft -Not avail.so will put in 2nd hand
one for the time being...
-Must admit this one came as a total surprise,so right now am sulking in the com-
pany of my buddies Jack Daniels and Bud Weiser..................................-Reid.

 

[mr-reno-139]

I would always trust a good genuine second hand part these days as quality on new reproduction or reconditioned parts are hopeless these days
Of course with 150 bhp don't think any last long

 

[reidalpine]

I totally see and agree with your point Paul-it seems more and more difficult to find proper parts.The ones on offer today Looks like the part
but soon as you take them out of the plastic they simply do not perform.. I think they're made to look genuine IN their plastic,and simply not
meant to be used as whet they portray.. SAD!
-I always try to stay well off Ching-Chong made stuff but it's getting harder as NOS or genuine parts ar drying up and you can't even trust
the Names or brands anymore as they've all got "sivile" names not showing they are acually all made in Chin-shuang or thereabouts...
Seems we are a dying breed of dinosaurs wanting Some effort going into what's in the box -Not the box itself! Have a Good one Paul! -R-

 

[reidalpine]

after some good sulking I removed the broken drive-shaft to find one of the roller-cages had popped off the spider,/the universal joint. spread all needles from their place.
to me it looks like the spring holding the lock-ring for the roller-cages had disintegrated (found half of it)which gave way to the roller-cage flying
outward and off the spider.Now Why this has happend beats me. I see some scuffing on several surfaces in there but this could as easily happend As
loose roller-cage etc smashed around..

I noted on the shaft(s) of these refurb shafts, that they have a machined ridge towards the outer-gaiters. One has one, the other has two
ridges....What the Hey?? are they handed or what??

The ones I have are 67,5cm end to end laying on the bench,22 and 23 splines and fits both R4 and R5 ,these have a 3-legged spider in the tuip-joint
-I seem to remember seeing some drive-shafts that had 4-legged spider...I think R5(TS/TX?) in case Why? strenght or what?

in case; Could reason for breakdown be I should have used 4-legged ones ??? Paul-Malcolm,Angel!! You out there guys?

(I'm dropping Easter this time ,as I've seem to have hopefully done my share of laying eggs for now..... -Reid.

 

[mr-reno-139]

Pics please if inner end problems either length wrong or you've got gearbox mounted too far one way on the front cross member and or too high? low ? and inner joint not happy

 

[reidalpine]

Hi there Paul! I measured the exact width from axle plane to axle plane on both(original and 5sp.box) they both measures up to 17cm
so no differerence there.As Roffen is in mid air now I have to wait till I get a new axle in and wheel on ground to measure respective
heigth at hub and diff. Also will measure N/S-placement of motor/box.
(I think they should be correct-but actually it would be very good if they're out of true,as then I would understand what caused
this misere, and I would be ok with it -I really Hate it when things happen and I can't grasp what caused it

re. pics I hope to get my cam back from service as plastic-lid on batterytray broke..

Thanx Much for your input Paul! -R.

 

[angel]

Many early tripod joints didn't have a circlip or similar to hold the races and needles together. As soon as you separated the joint from the tulip they were free to fall around if you were not careful enough! So this is unlikely to be your problem. Look at what Paul pointed - the joint working at an excessive angle or unduly compressed. Otherwise it could well be a manufacturing fault.
These driveshafts are not handed, the difference you noticed at the shafts may well have to do with the core that was available at the time for rebuild.

 

[reidalpine]

Hi Angel! have looked through my stash of old used driveshafts and am unsure if any is of use.Have ordered a new one so hope it will be here
before the MOT 31st. As you say it might have been a dodgy rebuild on this one...
-distance between hub and gearbox seems same on both sides-It took same effort to get shafts into hub-side, after taking off both top balls
swinging hub outwards and forward as per Haynes. Angle from hub to gearbox also Seems fine,shafts fits nicely through frame"holes" and does
not rub or touch.No wear or marks to be seen anywhere after driving it sme either.

-Must admit I've never really given the drive-shafts much though other than looking for split boots and knocking sounds so this incident came
as a surprise for me..
I wonder How much would the Total distance from mounting-points gearbox to hub change under use up/down and turning ? -I thought dis-
tance would stay pretty much same all thetime -or does it change considerably? I thought topping/bottoming-out and turning would change
it just a few mills.

These are 70 cm(from end to end) not compressed,came off the HAO 1 365 4sp gearbox I had on the 810-G-765 1289cc motor,compared
that both gearboxes were same width,both are 17cm so same,my first suspicion was shafts was too short so it was pulled apart...

Must also admit I havn't thought they could have been undyly compressed as you suggest.
-I think this one might take better heads than mine!

Hope all is good with you down in Athens.. -R.

 

[reidalpine]

after removing old drive-shaft I found the lock-tabs for holding inner-joint together had Not been correctly positioned
to work.
as they were bent inwards/downwards it looks as the joint had only been pushed home and tabs not positioned to hold
joint together afterwards
If locking-plate had been in correct pos at first the tabs would have been bent outwards as shaft shot out......

New one in place and so far works as should-had to remove small section of bonnet where the 5cm extra protruding
part of 5-speed box was touching.This is on the underside of bonnet at bottom so can't be seen from outside....
-I've also made a sticker saying "No anorks permitted crawling under"
new trial run over to Sweden tomorrow -All fingers crossed! -then off to MOT on Thursday -R..

 

[reidalpine]

running-in seems to go fine-small adjustments going-on,needs to find self-locking nuts for my gearbox-cradle as the
normal nuts is transferring a bit too much vibrations..Needs to be bit more loose.
MOT went well-YESS! bonnet in place,so NOS chromed bumper and
love-handles will be mounted one of these days.Used driveshaft seem ok for now,Got quoted £300 A PIECE(!)for 2 new
refurb'd ones!!!-which I turned down,then found 2 NEW (2 yr's guarantee)ones at €114 A PAIR ! which sound more
reasonable to me,so have ordered them for future replacement.. New R5TX steering-
wheel (real hide-No less)going on,soon as I have finished making up the blinkers auto-return part for it...

-Having a bit of a hard time Not stomping on it when just about Everyone and his dog simply Must overtake because I'm
driving "an old car" -will however take notes of their reg.numbers and seek them up at home in about 3000km's time

PS: Found a Matra Bagheera today needing a Lot of love,so might take it home as it is a give-away but sadly neglected..
had some nice Gotti-rims on it tho'-so must have been loved at one time..... -Reid

 

[reidalpine]

been covering some 400km's today with no mishaps/hick-ups I changed the two nuts connecting the gearbox to cradle
installed nylocks instead,left 1/2 turn free movement which seems to have helped quell transfer of vibrations to the frame
-and rest of car.. Roffen runs very well now,No problems cruising along at 150km's in 5th. What is Really impressive is how
Roffen keeps on accelarating in top gear!
Have ordered wheel-alignment controle,to have it all checked out and adjusted corrctly
I'm ocming to believe jesus loves me again...but still early days tho' so won't pop the Champagne just yet! -Reid.

 

[reidalpine]

so, got resuts from Roffens wheel/susp/steering-controle which shoved it to be kind of all over the place...
Rear-wheels a little off to one side,but still within specs. Front-wheels-one had toe-in the other toe-out
in addition to one had neg camber the other pos..so not to wonder it felt funny to drive.
-All taken care of now,so life still smiling!
New(factory fresh)compl.drive-shafts arrived today..Total inc.post £ 142 For the Pair .That's not half bad!

PS:Anyone up for a set of orig R5 Alpine rims (looks like the lid of a man-hole with 3 slots in them? -Reid.