So this car was taken out to meet a friend who after 2 laps of the car park was confident enough to take it out around a local lake
Looks a bit worried as this was only his second car park lap !
However he thoroughly enjoyed his lake laps [ about 2.5 miles ] and though it was marvelous if a little noisy on the uneven surface.
We retired to a local cafe for coffee and toast , however on leaving I had a nagging doubt all was not well with the car.
Now on the way there the car was making some odd noises that it had not made whilst racing the right disc brake [ always the better one of the 2 ] was making a noise , not a intermittent rub - ok - rub but a screech then no screech. On the way home I discovered if the car turned to the right the screeching started and if it turned to the left it stopped - my eventual conclusion was the right rear half shaft must be loose ? So I stopped as soon as I could and tried to move it in and out , b*****d the bloody thing moved the whole width of the gap between the brake pads . The only thing stopping it letting go was the caliper straddling the rotor.
Now I am partly to blame for this as there are 4 grub screws holding the half shafts into the pillow block bearings and I did not use locking compound on them as it seemed every other week I was still removing them to try and get the disc brakes to work , however they were very tight before the first race ?
On it's own this would have meant just a very gentle ride home trying not to stress it ? However before I tracked this problem down I was puzzled as to when I had the car/right rear wheel on grass or a loose surface it was spinning the right rear wheel ? Now there is only 1 reason for it doing that ? yes the car was now 1WD the left wheel NOT being driven by the pedals , I can only assume the bolt providing the drive has either unscrewed itself in the space made available by the right half shaft moving outwards OR the drive screw has broken AGAIN as before when I discovered this all the testing pre-race.
This could also account for some of the problems with the gear change also as there is absolutely nothing positively locating the 2WD unit in place JUST the fact the half shafts are snug inside it and NOT free to move left or right ? Surely if the right half shaft can move about 3-4mm then the cassette can as well , dumped it in the garage in disgust
So disassembled this afternoon yes 1WD drive bolt snapped again !
You can see the break and the broken piece in the half shaft also note the threads in the half shaft come right to the end , however on the bolt there are almost no thread between the bolt head and the break ?
So has the 2WD unit been moving and worn the threads away ? before snapping the bolt ?
Another potential problem is that this is the right side inside it's pawl carrier can you see the bolt head on the end of the half shaft is no where near long enough to properly engage in the hex hole in the carrier ?
So unsure what to do ?
a) can't sell it as is - the remaining right wheel drive may fail.
b) don't want to buy custom made half shafts to just to sell it and not get any mileage out of them
c) remove wheels , seat , chain and 2WD unit and scrap the rest taking a hit ?
All for now Paul
