Driveshaft Exhaustion

Installing the circlips on the cut driveshafts turned out to be a nightmare. The driveshaft is prevented from going too far into the CV joint by a nasty circlip with no method of removing it. Not shown in the photos is the gap between the ends which let me pry it apart with three screwdrivers (one acting as the fulcrum) and get a punch under the clip. After much effort with punches, hammers, 4 hands, screwdrivers and surprisingly no injuries, one clip came off. My supply of driveshafts was somewhat depleted so I had to take the clip off the other end where it's mounted away from the spline, this was even more difficult as you couldn't use the spline to lever against.

Installing the clips on the new shafts was not easy either. After squashing them down to the correct size again, they wouldn't go over the end of the new shafts. Much effort with the press and various implements of expanding was required.

There is an issue with the driveshafts -- they were made a little smaller than specified. My measurements were close, but obviously not exact because the right hand shaft is probably acceptable, while the left hand shaft is a little too short for my liking. I'm not looking forward to moving the circlips again.

Even before the 5 hour circlip adventure I had given up getting to the Nationals in time for the Motorkahna. After spending so much time on the circlips, the schedule to get it running in time for the show and shine on Sunday looked unlikely. A nasty weather forecast combined with rapidly waning energy lead to more sleeping than working on Saturday.

I'm quite happy with the number of short cuts I took to get to where I did. Really the only thing I have to undo is installing the rear subframe. My next goal is to install the drive system at the front, wire up the 1/3 battery pack I have installed and take it to the weighbridge. Knowing the weight distribution will help decisions about how many cells I can install in the rear.