Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Just put the elan on the 2 post lift in preparation for taking the engine and box out and had a bit of a look underneath. 2 rotoflexes gone so I will be going for the cv joint conversion. Lots of discussion in the archives but has someone bought some recently and checked on current prices?

Thanks,
John

Yes, I would like to know as well. The setup that was shown on the BBC show when they restored that Elan is no longer being sold by them. (Sorry guys, my mind has gone blank on the name of the vendor, nice person however). I called her and she told me that they were no longer selling them, as she could not source good quality CV joints to use with her adapters.

I would lke to know as I have an Elan with a full Spyder conversion that I suppose will need to be replaced soon. And I have an Elan I am prepping to sell that I might consider putting a resoanably priced set on before I sell it.

I dont see why we could not set up a group purchase if we had a set of adapter plates. I am sure we could source an acceptable set of CV's.....

I'm in for a group buy for a pair for my soon-to-be-completed '72 Elan Sprint Coupe. I bought new Rotoflexs some years back but have not yet installed them. I'm left feeling nervous from all I've read about the quality of late manufacture doughnuts.

Mike

jmp wrote:Just put the elan on the 2 post lift in preparation for taking the engine and box out and had a bit of a look underneath. 2 rotoflexes gone so I will be going for the cv joint conversion. Lots of discussion in the archives but has someone bought some recently and checked on current prices?

Thanks,
John

Assuming you are in the UK the vendor mentioned by Tony is the lovely Susan Miller and as far as I'm aware she is still selling the kit for +2's but not Elans. The problems were with the angle of the dangle on Elans. I assume you want an Elan kit however so she probably can't help.

Best advice is give her a call Telephone 1728 603307

EDIT: I assume Spyder still sell their single rotoflex shafts which were a similar price to the Miller shafts and might be a reasonable compromise.

This Australian drive shaft looks good to me - has anyone used them? http://www.elantrikbits.com/index.html They are quite pricey, but I won't mind if they are as good as they are cracked up to be.

Just noticed that rotoflex couplings have almost doubled in price to almost ?100 each in the last year so a cv conversion is starting to look even more appealing ... I think Tony Thompson still does them but I don't know if they are the same one's Susan Miller stopped selling....

TT's solid driveshafts are still available, but are based on uj's & not cv's.

All fitted with grease nipples & should last forever if looked after properly.

I've had them on my 140bhp S2 for some years, with lots of heavy track / competition use (as at Club Lotus - Castle Combe - recently) & they are 100% reliable.

Don't know the cost these days, sorry.

Edited to add - personally I wouldn't use the currently available rubber couplings for anything except a show car that was driven VERY carefully, & inspected VERY carefully every 6 months, but that's just me.

My Sprint is fitted with the 'fail safe' driveshafts which are supposed not to fly around if (or when) the coupling falls apart. I think I would need to take a hacksaw to them to remove the central pins if I wanted to fit an alternative type of coupling?

yes, of course it was Susan Miller. I just could not remember her name.

I would still like to do this as a group buy. I have a set of Spyder ones on my car but they have been there for close to 25 years. Dont know if they have a "life".

HI ALL,
just about to change my old donuts for solid drives. Have spoken to Sue Miller who is still producing the CVs for the plus 2, but no longer for the Elan. She tells me that the project has now been handed over to Pat Thomas of Kelvendon Motors. Also spoke to Pat who has the CVs available now, but due to the problems relating to "the angle of the dangle" it is necessary to buy a pair of rear inserts (shocks) which limit the suspension travel and so should solve the problem of the CVs breaking up. Pat is also selling the inserts.
Hope this helps, regards George...

Can you post some contact details. I have a friend over there now and he could pick me up a set.

I fitted the Elan Factory (Lotus Marques) kit about two years ago. A bit pricey but fit and forget. Sooooo.... much better than those bouncy old rotoflex couplings. See them here:

http://www.lotusmarques.com/parts/datas ... conversion

I just test drove a 69 Elan with a combination donut and U-joint drive shaft, and I have to say, it was wonderful. No problems with take off and it felt very solid, with no noticiable flex at all. I am told it does not have the "dangle" problem with the CV units. While you will eventually still need to replace the donunts, it will only be 2 instead of 4, so half price lol.

Guys, CV kits are available from Dave Bean, JAE, RD, Elantrikbits, and probably others. I have used a JAE kit for almost 20 years with zero issues.

I would advise buying a kit which includes hardened diff output shafts, as we already know, the stockers can and will twist. If you have an uprated engine, steel hub shafts should be considered, too.

I have replaced the rubber donuts with u/j shafts and sliding splines, they came from Paul Matty and should last a lot longer and work much better.
No problem with droop and will safely take more power.