Driveshafts.
Now why on earth would anyone want to get rid of that endearing period feature of 40bhp Hillman Imp doughnuts on a 110+bhp Lotus Elan ?
Actually when you put it like that it’s a wonder the doughnuts made it into the 70s, but then again we didn’t have such serious Type Approval, Health and Safety or EU regulations around then, did we ?
But with Lotty getting nearer to an MoT I began to look seriously at the doughnuts.
At first glance they looked ok, but there’s a nagging doubt that they are, after all, almost 30yrs old. Will they fall apart as I accelerate away with my shiny new MoT ?
30 year old Rubber ?
So I consider the options. Obviously replacing with new doughnuts is the cheapest and simplest solution. And I’ve never honestly found fault with the fabled jerks in transmission, it’s always seemed smooth enough to me.
But what is a “good” doughnut these days ? And why do the reputable suppliers offer CV or UJ systems now ? Back in the 1980s such conversions were considered radical and in many cases less reliable than the old rubber bands.
The 21st Century Solution
But times change, and looking at the conversion offered by Sue Miller with her reputation for having quality items, it was modification time again.
And what a remarkably simple and painless modification. Ok, there was a minor contribution to the swear box but overall quite a simple job.
The hardest part was finding a decent quality open ended spanner with enough leverage to tighten them up and a slight concern about the insistence that they are checked frequently.
To that end I applied paint marks to the nuts (red in the picture) to show any movement from a quick glance.