Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Jason1 wrote:http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FIAT-X1-9-X19-LOTUS-ELAN-SHORT-DRIVE-SHAFTS-/170931801237?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item27cc544c95&_uhb=1

What do you think to these? He says they are Fiat X19 shafts but they fit the Elan?

Beware, when he says Elan he might mean the modern M100 Elan. Also I think the lengths are different for two-seater Elans versus Elan +2 and he has not specified which.

I asked him for dimensions. Centre solid shaft is 300mm long, which probably means two seater elans. Seller also advises Cvs are 100mm diameter (same as kombi, not beetle which are 90mm) which means adaptors would need to match....

Well this other ebay listing gives the length as 311 mm which would be too long for the Two seater Elan unless the adapters were thinner.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/260668418557? ... 1438.l2649

It seems to me that giving a single dimensions of overall length does not help anyone decide if they are suitable. The shafts (presumably) have axial movement so we really need to know the extended and compressed length.

I see the auction has ended anyway, the seller says 'they are worth a fortune'!

It would be nice to think that Fiat shafts could be adapted to Lotus Elan use, I wonder why the topic has never cropped up before though.

Ian

Elanman99 wrote:It seems to me that giving a single dimensions of overall length does not help anyone decide if they are suitable. The shafts (presumably) have axial movement so we really need to know the extended and compressed length.

I see the auction has ended anyway, the seller says 'they are worth a fortune'!

It would be nice to think that Fiat shafts could be adapted to Lotus Elan use, I wonder why the topic has never cropped up before though.

Ian

I do fully agree with your thoughts & all of the comparison measurements would be a great project any members on here who are contemplating the move towards CVJ drive shafts & the topic may be worth a thread for itself so that the cumulative efforts could be collected there.

Does anyone know or have access to some elan shafts to verify their length with donuts attached?
Tony

tonyabacus wrote:Does anyone know or have access to some elan shafts to verify their length with donuts attached?
Tony

Hi Tony

5 weeks ago I could have given you a better answer as I had a set of new donuts, They were installed on the "Sow's Ear Chassis" back on September 24th, your timing is off and this is a "best guess" with some used donuts. The donuts have a "high boss" and my guess is that it "may be" about an eighth of an inch per donut.



The width of the donut interleaves that the bolt passes though measured up at 1.726


The half shaft itself measures 8.875 inches



what does it all mean? I don't have a clue. added up with some guessing and a "slop factor" included might be 12.875 or there abouts but my guess is this info is not anything that will be of real use in trying to determine the length of a CV half shaft. I believe that if you wanted to get it right you would need to set up the rear suspension without a spring and install your rear rotor with the adapter plates and "then" take a measurement at it shortest and longest then add some for a safety factor. not doing this would probably get you something that may work but might not work. There is probably better info on this forum that is of real use. Others have done the job and they have given out the info that they have used. Now that there are about 2000 topics on CV's it makes it more difficult to find. The more questions there are, and the more answers that are given, the less use this forum becomes. Then you just need to pick the answer that you want to hear

Gary

Gary
Thanks for taking the time to measure and provide the information.

As you say the more that put on this forum the more difficult it becomes to find what you are looking for. I guess one of the easiest answers would be for someone who has done the CV shaft conversion to measure the assembled shaft and post the results.

It seems to me there are two critical measurements needed,
1. the distance between the two installed flanges (taken across the face of each flange) when in the normal running and level plane
2. a similar measurement taken with the suspension on full droop

The only other variable is the thickness of the lobro joint which will determine the positions of the circlips to locate the joint. From these measurements it should be straight forward to calculate the thickness of the adapter plate needed to link the lobro to the flange and hence the length of shaft required.

Tony

Tony,
More or less - you need to know the maximum and minimum distance between the flanges and the articulation angle for each joint through the range of movement.
This has all been made to work before so we can make some assumptions and concentrate on the arrangement at full extension..

They're back
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/FIAT-X1-9-X1 ... 27cd13f801

Personally I don't see how people expect to sell things on ebay with such an abrasive attitude....but each to their own....

Caveat emptor: "Let the buyer beware".
They might work, they might not.
They look pretty well knackered to me.

These are in the UK but listed on eBay in Australia, I wonder why?

Ian

Nah no mystery. I'm in Sydney, access ebay via ebay.com.au and search for parts worldwide. Same end point, different starting point....

Here's a 110% safe bet for CVDS... decades of proven reliability... All New Parts
Just fit and forget.
http://www.elantrikbits.com/

gino1 wrote:Talking about driveshafts yesterday afternoon I spoke with Wayne Mitchell from California who makes and sells these donut savers.
Could be interesting for someone who still uses them. They look very good.
Heres the link :

http://www.dogrings.com/donut_saver.htm

Gino Milano
Italy

I'm away on holiday at the moment and I am keeping myself occupied reading all sorts of LotusElan.net threads.

I have just read the six pages of this thread and found that Gino Milano did not get a response the above post in January 2010. I too would be interested to hear of anyone who may have tried these dogrings. They are still advertised on the web.