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How do you fit them ? I presume they just push in to the engine then held on by a nut a the wheel end ?
I am looking at the photo in the gallery called Turbo engine madness ( great picture I have used it so much) and notice the right hand side of the drive shaft seems to go further into the engine than mine by approx 1 inch. Does it need a bit of help with a hammer or is there something else I should be doing.
You need to get the slines lined up then a gentle tap with a club hammer and a piece of wood should see it go home.
Please bear in mind though there are two different gear box oil seals that go with driveshafts. Did the gear box and driveshafts come from the same donor?
Also a bit of a heads up. These drive shafts for all turbo builders have been a right pain. Marlin have changed there engine and gearbox mount for a start. Can you take a picture and post yours?
There is also a stabiliser bar from the gearbox to the chassis. Marlin fitted this for me as there was a bracket that needed weilded to the chassis.
Also once that's sorted, it's the driveshafts thereselves. I used a 420 diesel short drive shaft. The long one is from a 800 turbo. With the outer CV joint from a 200.
Thanks as you say it just needed a bit of persuasion, now installed.
Very clean looking engine by the way.
I did not buy a donor indstead Marlin supplied me with all the parts (well almost !) that I would need to complete the car. The engine was out of the turbo demo as were the drive shafts so seem to be the right size.
I did get two stabiliser bars in my kit, one from gearbox to the chassis, the another from higher up on the engine to the side of the chassis.
Also once that's sorted, it's the driveshafts thereselves. I used a 420 diesel short drive shaft. The long one is from a 800 turbo. With the outer CV joint from a 200.
Yo,
Sorry to go back over oldgrounds but the search facility on this forum doesn't work and I need to buy driveshafts now...
Mr Limpabit, does the combination above still stand (short from 400diesel and long from 800t) or have you changed your driveshafts since posting this? I remember when I first signed up to the forum you said I needed the diesel driveshafts. if this is the case, from which series/engine size Rover should I source these from?
There was a couple things that corrected the driveshaft issue. First being the engine mounts. Is you engine and gearbox mounting on the chassis the same as mine?
Old Engine mount on chassis. And you need to brace this mount to the suspension leg or something, to stop engine movement under load.
Gearbox mount on chassis.
If so, you will need the revised mounts from Marlin. I will confirm that the mounts in these pictures are the revised ones.
The engine and gearbox actually sits off line:
Talking of engine/gearbox bits, this was supplied to mount between gearbox and rear lower chassis member:
When car was stripped, this was bent like a banana. Possibly due to engine not being braced at the front, I don't know.
As for driveshafts. I'm about 95% certain that these were 420 diesel driveshafts after the 800 long one were too long. But I would ask them to measure them. The long one, I ended up going to the scrap yard where there were a lot of driveshafts sitting there. And went measuring!
Ok no Rover 400 diesels in the local breakers yards so I've messaged a few people on eBay... no reply as yet. Would you be selling your shafts now you've decided to change engines John?
I'll have a word with Ian (Merlinman). He's tossing up whether to do up my Rover engine and use the driveshafts. But has his reservations about the Rover turbo engine conpared to the D16 engine.
I will ask him though.
Have you got the updated engine mounts from Marlin? This make a difference as it changes the angle of the engine/driveshafts.