Not much of a post, but I have not had time to do anything with them! But this week the driveshafts arrived from GKN. They seem to be about the right length, which is a bit of luck, and have a black anti-corrosion layer. Obviously they knew the colour scheme!! Anyway, they seem to have come in massive drill type containers!

So, I ordered a load of snap rings. I came across a bit of a problem, but it turned out to not be real. As the car is based on mini running gear, I just thought I would be able to order the snap rings from any mini dealer. However, when I spoke to them on the phone they said there were different snap rings on the outer (thicker) to the inner (thinner) ends of the shaft. Apparently if I were to use the inner ones on the outer the CV would fall apart…..! The inner ones they had massive stock of, but the outers were not made any more and I would have to get some off of some wreaked shafts. This was slightly confusing to me as the grooves in the shafts were the same both ends. I phoned jon and he said he just used the same both ends! This sounded more sensible to me, as if the snap ring thickness was so critical it would be stupid, so I just ordered all the inner ones.
So I pushed the rings onto the shafts and rammed them into the CV’s. Pushed the inners fully in, measured the position, then pulled it fully out, halved the distance and tacked the shafts. Then a quick check to ensure when on both full bump and full droop the shaft didnt bind up.
All that was left was to remove the shafts. Not the easiest thing and I had to take the huns off, and then hit the shafts out. As they were new snap rings were new they were quite tight!
So, now I just need to get some made. I will just send these welded shafts as templates. I am thinking of GKN gundrilled shafts to loose some weight. (Same as used on the 935). Just depends how pricey they are, think there is a deal to be done as we are looking to buy quite a few shafts in total, for all the CTR machines.

Of course, it turns out, as I suspected, that trying a new diff doesn’t just mean a diff swap, the original driveshafts are not the correct length either. The new diff is slightly wider than the original and has a slightly different offset. Hence both shafts need to be changed. I have decided to get them made, rather than welding sleeves to the shafts to extend them, as from previous experience they are never as good!
So to get the length of the shaft i had to cut the original, after measuring it! and then turn up a sleeve to extend it. This serves as a temporary shaft just so I can get the length, NOT as the final item. However, it seems that i dont have any snap rings, so I will have to order them before finally getting the shaft to length. I could guess the length but i don’t think its really worth it, as if I get new shafts made and they are the wrong length as i didn’t bother, would feel a bit of a prat! Thats not to say i wont still get it wrong, but at least I can say I made a good effort!