Lotus Elan and Lotus Elan Plus 2 Forums

Today I started on getting the yoke off of the drive shaft.

My initial thought of pushing out the u-joint with my vise was not effective. It's a big machinist vise, but with my full weight on the handle, the caps did not move. I used to have a 1/2" pipe cheater bar around here somewhere, but it looks like it's walked away, so I needed another approach.

So off to YouTube, and I saw a couple of pros post videos where their approach was basically to replace the vise with a BFH and just whail (wail? whale?) away.

I put a spare piece of steel plate on the floor, used a big socket as a "receptacle", sacrificed a 6" socket extension as a drift, and got my 5 lb hammer out at went at it. It took a bunch of whacks, but eventually the caps came out far enough to get gripped in the vise and twisted out the rest of the way.

I'll replace both u-joints while I've got the shaft out (has anybody ever gotten the shaft out of the tunnel without pulling the tranny? The book says you can do it, but I'm skeptical), and give it a coat of paint, too. Somehow it picked up a rust patina hiding away in the tunnel.

Good man..

John

Just changed the UJs on the Propshaft of my Sprint. It's easy to remove the Propshaft.
Remove bolts at Diff and slide back untill it comes out of Gearbox.
Put Jack under Gearbox and remove Gearbox Mount/Bracket.
Jack up Gearbox to let Propshaft slide forward out of Tunnel.
Very easy.
When you assemble the new UJs pack extra Grease in UJ Cups to hold Needles in place. Use Vice or Press and NOT Hammer to assemble (which will shock Needles out of position)
Alan

Plus 1 To Alan`s post above.
Once the gearbox mount was out, the tail end would move quite a lot upwards and to one side as far as it will go.
Then I just reached into the tunnel and pulled the propshaft out forwards.
Following your progress closely even though I do not want to spend that much on a gearbox.
Eric in Burnley
S3SE DHC

I once put the engine and box into an Elite (Mk 14) and then went to the rear of the car to insert the prop only to find that it couldn't be done. The first installation of the engine and box took minutes (beginners luck), the second with propshaft installed took considerably longer. It's a mistake you make only once.

Today I cut the clearance notch in the front tunnel gusset. This is needed for the taller tail piece and speedo right angle drive. Voigt includes a template - I made some copies, cut out the middle of one of them, taped it to the gusset, and scribed the cut line. I used a hacksaw, a small cutoff wheel on a die grinder, a carbide cutter on a die grinder, and various files to finish the notch.

I've got a couple of u-joints on order from RDE. When they come in I'll take the drive shaft to a local specialist and have them assemble and balance the thing.

In the meantime, I'll take the flywheel off and get it surfaced. Just in case.

Steve,

Do you have an opinion on my earlier post: If not using the speedo drive that the cutout does not need the upper left area removed?

I asked Alan Voigt the same question but no response yet.

I’ll probably make the cutout assuming no removal on the left. Then trial fit just the gearbox to verify if that works.

Clean the the new front driveshaft yoke very carefully. On mine the swarf and lubricant left from broaching the spline was never cleaned out, it was filthy mess.

I didn't care much for the gear lever either so I adapted a Quaife short throw kit for the T-9 to take the standard lever for my +2.

1owner69Elan wrote:Steve,

Do you have an opinion on my earlier post: If not using the speedo drive that the cutout does not need the upper left area removed?

I asked Alan Voigt the same question but no response yet.

I’ll probably make the cutout assuming no removal on the left. Then trial fit just the gearbox to verify if that works.

My opinion is that you're correct. I should be trial fitting in the next day or two, and should be able to get you a picture then.

CBUEB1771 wrote:I didn't care much for the gear lever either so I adapted a Quaife short throw kit for the T-9 to take the standard giver for my +2.

That adaptation looks great. I might try something similar with the 2seat Elan lever.

I assume the shift action is good? I had read elsewhere that short shifters were not that great for the T9. “Rushes the synchros”

Steve,
You have made a good decision for the Flywheel. It just takes a little time to remove the Dowels. Then after surfacing assemble Dowels with Loctite
Alan

1owner69Elan wrote:

CBUEB1771 wrote:I didn't care much for the gear lever either so I adapted a Quaife short throw kit for the T-9 to take the standard giver for my +2.

That adaptation looks great. I might try something similar with the 2seat Elan lever.

I assume the shift action is good? I had read elsewhere that short shifters were not that great for the T9. “Rushes the synchros”

I can only say that the shift action feels good on the bench, it will be a long time before my +2 is back together and on the road. Regarding the short throw aspect, it is only marginally shorter than what is supplied with the Voights conversion. The driver is very much in control of rushing the synchros by how hard and fast you push or pull the level. I am a great believer in the "two finger" approach to changing gears.

Today I did a dry fit of the transmission and engine. I wanted to get the routing of the clutch bleed line right when I had room to work it, and also see what it's like to mate up the lumps.

I hooked up my crane and leveler to the transmission, and ran it up to the engine. After some fidding I got the input shaft splines lined up with the clutch, but the last inch or so didn't want to go, so I used long bolts on the two lugs with the guide dowels and drew the tranny up.

After the first try, I realized I didn't have the sheet metal that goes between the engin/tranny in place, so I took everything back apart and went at it again (after some hammer work - it turned out I bent the lower/middle sheet metal thingy pretty badly when I disassembled everything). The second attempt went much smoother, for some reason - I only had to use the bolts to close the last 1/4" or so.

Getting the flywheel off required a trip to the tool store. It turns out that 63 years of tool collecting has not left me with a 1/2" to 3/8" adapter so I could put a 12-point 9/16" socket on an impact wrench to get the flywheel off. But that was a quick trip and the flywheel is ready to go to the shop tomorrow. As is the drive shaft, since the u-joints arrived today.

So, progress is being made. Tomorrow I should test fit the tranny to the car and verify that my cut-out is sufficient.

Here's the hard line line routing I ended up with. I should be able to fine-tune this when in the car.

Hi Steve,
looks very nice. I imagine you have changed the Needle bearing for the Gearbox Spigot that is in the Crankshaft
When i fit an Engine to the Gearbox i attach the sandwich plate the Engine using thin thread through the holes with the Dowels (to stop it moving).
If the Gearbox is already in the Car i also select a gear to stop input shaft turning.
With the Gearbox already in the Car it also prevents the Bellhousing jam on the Engine Mounting Lugs on the Chassis.
Alan