5 replies to this topic

[Barman]

Hi again guys...

I'm sure this is simple but I'm going around in circles here...

I'm ready to put my drive shafts into the engine (well, not quite ready, I realise that the splines need cleaning up!)...

I have new Pot Joints and new CV Joints - the old ones fell apart or had to be cut off...

BUT I only have one circlip - it came with the CV joint and is shown in the picture below. It looks as though this clip should go in the slot at the end of the shaft...

So, if I am correct, I need to order clips for the wider slot at the CV end and the narrow slot at the Pot Joint end (shown in SAM_0751).

Can somebody point me at the right parts please..? I've looked at the normal places but I'm confused... Somerford for instance show the outer one as 17H8597 (thick) and out of stock while MiniSpares don't list it at all. Somerford show the inner one as 37H8706 (thin) and MiniSpares have a picture that looks like the one I got with the CV joint.

I'm sure it is very simple!

Attached Files

•  SAM_0750.JPG   195.1K   19 downloads
•  SAM_0751.JPG   187.19K   17 downloads

[Dan]

All you need to retain the joints is the small clip, one in each end. The large clip that fits in the groove is to stop the shaft pushing into the joint too far. They are obsolete, nobody ever bought them because nobody takes them off the shafts. In fact getting them off is quite tough. Problem is though I'm not sure you should use a shaft without them fitted. Although they aren't really needed because in practise the shaft can't push through too far, the slot that is cut for them is a weakness in the shaft and is where all the race and rally driveshafts used to break. So special tuning shafts were never cut for the clip there. The thing is without a clip fitting tightly into the slot the shaft will be even more likely to flex there than it would normally and so it's more of a weakness. It's quite a risk I think. Did you remove them? Where did they go?

[Barman]

All you need to retain the joints is the small clip, one in each end. The large clip that fits in the groove is to stop the shaft pushing into the joint too far. They are obsolete, nobody ever bought them because nobody takes them off the shafts. In fact getting them off is quite tough. Problem is though I'm not sure you should use a shaft without them fitted. Although they aren't really needed because in practise the shaft can't push through too far, the slot that is cut for them is a weakness in the shaft and is where all the race and rally driveshafts used to break. So special tuning shafts were never cut for the clip there. The thing is without a clip fitting tightly into the slot the shaft will be even more likely to flex there than it would normally and so it's more of a weakness. It's quite a risk I think. Did you remove them? Where did they go?

Thanks Dan,

I don't remember removing them and the pictures that I have of the dissasebly don't show them (which isn't to say that they were not there - just that I didn't take the right picture at the right time)... I think if I had removed them (and they are difficult) I would have taken pictures...

So you would reccomend new drive shafts then...?

[Dan]

I would get advice from someone who might have driven a car where the shafts have snapped and see if this is more likely to make it happen. Try Cooperman, he must have lost a shaft at least once!

[Barman]

I would get advice from someone who might have driven a car where the shafts have snapped and see if this is more likely to make it happen. Try Cooperman, he must have lost a shaft at least once!

Okay, I'll send him a PM...

[Barman]

UPDATE:

Cooperman confirmed that the car shouldn't be driven without the wide circlip.

Luckily, I managed to find some second hand clips at MiniMail which saved me the cost of replacing the shafts...