Rally Design Lower Steering Coupling Shaft

[MaddMart]

Richard, you've said before that you'd not cut anything off on the 1500s but I reckon that Sprints must be different. You can't push the top joint in/up any farther, there's only a couple of mm. to play with (as it were).<br>
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[MalcGE]

We have one of two types of shaft (that I know of <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :eek --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/intl/aenglish/im ... ns/eek.gif ALT=":eek"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> ) The first is a 'cast shaft / forged shaft' and the second is a 'pressed steel shaft' IIRC the 'cast shaft' is the OE unit. I'm not sure of the provenance of the 'pressed steel shaft' that I reckon is an aftermarket item. I'll take a photo of each and place on the board.<br>
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I assume your 3 1500HL's all have the same style of shaft on them Richard ?

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[Richard the old one]

I could only check on two of the cars as Claire has taken her car home this evening following Dad taking it for its MoT. I am glad to be able to report that it passed so Claire will be chasing me to fit the O/D that I have got. I rebuilt an O/D gearbox last weekend. Layshaft and roller bearings shot plus rear main shaft bearing. What puts me off is the weight of the bell housing plus gearbox and o/d. Not an easy job to lift into place if you are doing it on your own. I also have to sort out the offside rear wheel bearing seal as it is leaking oil. Again not an easy job.<br>
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Back to the questions raised. On the two that I was able to look at they are the cast shaft type. I can not say that I have a pressed steel type.<br>
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When it come to fitting. The only way that you will get the Rally design unit and intermediate shaft in is by first pulling / pushing the steering column back through the bulkhead bush. Then fitting the Rally design unit and intermediate shaft to the steering rack. On my 1500HLs it just goes in with a few mm of play. The tricky bit if you are doing the job on your own is then pushing the steering column back down through the bulkhead bush, through a plain washer (which is often missing) and into the splines that are in the top of the intermediate shaft. As I have stated before the intermediate shaft has to go a long way down into the Rally design U/J and this does limit the movement of the U/J but I have found that there is more than enough movement remaining. Have you been using this approach MaddMart?

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[Richard the old one]

Having sat here thinking about the problem.<br>
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Something that I did not put in the Dolly mixture article as I forgot about it at the time of writing was that I think that the flat on one of the intermediate shafts was not as long as the flats on the other two so I had to extend it so the the shaft would go as far as possible into the rally design u/j when the bolt was fitted. The other two did not need any modification.<br>
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If the intermediate shaft plus Rally design u/j will go into the car when the middle securing bolt is left out this is your problem.<br>
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I hope we have got to the bottom of the problem. Otherwise it must be that there is some slight difference between a sprint and a 1500HL subframe in this area. <br>
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[Jon Tilson]

On an 1850 or 1500 when doing the box form inside I find it a tad easier to fit the box without overdrive unit first and then fit the overdrive unit to the mainshaft with the box in place As long as the splines are lined up its not a problem and position the oil pump cam downwards.<br>
Its just a bit less heavy and the extra length makes lining it up a bit easier. <br>
The best of all way though is to dangle the lot from a decent hoist....<br>
Ive just found to my cost that the overdrive off method wont work on a Sprint though. Just couldnt get enough clearance to get the o/d on the shaft.<br>
Jonners

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[80sprint]

These pictures are of my RD joint attached without bolts and it shows how close it is even with the seam ground back. The paint is still rubbing away. The flats have been extended but if you go too far you loose a lot of the contact with the splines. Can't really see how i could change much more bar grinding the wings on the new joint down a bit near the bolt holes as this is where it is touching.<br>
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Mike<br>
80 Sprint

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[80sprint]

Oops<br>
Obviously can't remember the correct way to attach the pictures.<br>
Will try later.<br>
Mike

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[80sprint]

<!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://tinypic.com/5evak7" target="top">Here i go again.</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br>
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<!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://tinypic.com/5evclz" target="top">tinypic.com/5evclz</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--><br>


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[Stephen Grellet]

Perhaps whoever made up your rack mounts has them slightly offset to the rhs. The rack may need moved to the left a fraction.

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[Jon Tilson]

I have a Sprint in the driveway with engine out at the moment and Ive just changed the u/j bit. Pop round if you wnat to have a look and compare notes. I'm busy on IT stuff today (interview tomorrow) but could spare 10 minutes to open the bonnet....failing that I expect it will be back in by weds..<br>
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Jonners

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[80sprint]

John<br>
Really appreciate the offer of assistance but i will not be around until next weekend. If it does go back in this week maybe you could take one or two measurements if you don't mind to compare. Wanted to get the joint sorted before mine went back in last week but went ahead anyway as i did not want to waste a day off.<br>
Can't remember if the subframe has elongated holes in it. If not, the rack has a raised edge if i remember rightly that butts up against the rack mounts so is there much adjustment sideways ?. <br>
Mike

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