emini

Victor got back to me with an enormous 13000x9000 pixel drawing of the motor including the details of the output shaft. When I took the motor to the machinist I offered to get details of the spline but he wasn't very interested, saying that splines are usually modified from the standards to meet the particular application. I'll call him up tomorrow anyway.

The drawings also help with the adapter plate design since they include all the measurements needed to center the motor.

Interestingly the drawings are dated 1997 and 1998. You think you might be doing something new but really you're retracing steps taken 10 years ago.

After I removed the circlip the input shaft came apart fairly easily. I need to get a press, as hammering late at night can't be good for the neighbours, and the shaft will drop out onto the floor when it comes free.

I took the shaft and the motor to Precision Engineering on the shore. They weren't too happy to have a 40kg motor as the only template for the spline -- if it was smaller and lighter they could offer it up to the shaft while it was still in the spark erosion machine. This is important because centering the shaft in the machine is tricky. I've asked Victor if he has any specifications for the spline.

One of the bearings on the input shaft is held by this circlip. It doesn't succumb to needle nose pliers (granted this might be because John broke one of the tips off while removing driveshafts). It also doesn't really move when I hit it with a hammer and small drift.

There must be a special tool to remove this. Anyone know what it looks like? I'm guessing a fork with two tines that match the angled profile on the clip ends will do the job.

Updated: It turns out a bigger drift is all you need. The point on the end of the circlip grips the drift and a few good smacks with a hammer sends the circlip flying across the workbench. I eventually found it in a pile of sawdust.

With the driveshafts fitted (look closely under the motor and on either side of the subframe) it seems reasonably clear that the gearbox & motor will fit into the subframe. The motor isn't quite round and is very close to the suspension tower and the flat surface of the subframe. This means the motor has to be rotated correctly to avoid hitting the frame.

I'm tempted to get the shaft ground, assemble the gearbox, slide the motor onto the shaft and then build the adapter plate around the pair while they are in the subframe. It wouldn't be fun get the adapter plate back and find that the motor needs to be rotated a few degrees.

Next task is to strip the input shaft (it's covered in overdrive mechanism) ready for resplining to fit the motor.

John came over and helped me get some driveshafts from Pick-A-Part (only cost $44, including the inner CVs). They will make sure I don't push the box too far to the one side of the subframe. I'm worried about this because it still doesn't fit.

I'm going to get some pulleys so I can more easily adjust the position of the gearbox -- the current rope on rope affair doesn't slide well. If it still doesn't fit, I'll grind off the clutch release bearing sleeve, bringing the motor even closer to the box. If that isn't enough I'll cut part of the gearbox housing which holds the selector rods (I don't need to change gear). This will allow the box to move further to the right, giving more room to the motor on the left.

Blog for help. Have a sit down. Have some light refreshments.

Then select 1st gear (moving the selector closer to the housing, stiffening the shaft) and hit it harder.