Ingieuk

It does make it more difficult to drive doesn't it! Particularly with impatient people in modern cars!

Thanks for the reply. I do wonder as I replaced all the syncros with pattern items as they came in the rebuild kit from Paddocks. Just driven to work and the issue is much more acute in trafic, I had one smooth change but other than that it was a pain. Is there anything I can look at linkage wise? It's had a new set of bushes and the selector forks look in reasonable condition. When I do get the box out I'll swap back to the old syncro rings on 2nd. Though they are all mixed up now so I'm not sure which is which. Having said that before the circlip issue from earlier all gears changed lovely so maybe any of them will be good.

Bit of an update on things. With the car sporting new rotoflexs, rear cylinders and differential oil seals I took it out for a 20mile drive. All changes but 3rd-2nd are beautifully smooth. Blipping the throttle helps but without being down at 15-20mph road speed it will not select 2nd. Is it the syncro next to second gear that is the culprit or the one next to third? Struggling to get my head around it.

Thanks Clive, Peter and Pete all good information! After a few cold wet (and now dark) evenings work I have both sides renewed. Unfortunately with the spring lifter in play the car has had to live outside on account of my garage not being wide enough. I did need some ratchet straps to get that spring eye bolt in though! Anyway they were all fitted until I decided it would be worth doing the output shaft and pinion oil seals so it's all come off again! Thanks all.

Thanks Peter, good to know this is also a potential way forward.

I'm glad you mentioned that. On closer inspection I see I have not removed the stoneguard or spacer from the half shaft! Just need to work out how that might be removed without the special Churchill tool. Some exploratory taps with a copper hammer yielded little so I might have to manufacture some sort of puller.

I'm on with the roto change after a little hiatus for summer holidays/other priorities. Any tips on getting the new rotoflex over the flange on the outer half shaft? I've still got the metal bands on (and intend to keep them on!) but I can't see how they are going to go over given the relative sizes! Thanks, Richard

Thanks, it was the second jack that was the missing link. Going to need to source a taller axle stand to hold the lifter. That sounds fun...tapered dowl and patience to hand then! Once the whishbone is attached to chassis and driveshaft flange loosley bolted up I assume its a case of riving on it until that bolt is back in.

Quick query, when relieving the load on the lead spring how do you know you have gone far enough? Using a bottle jack, and the spring lifter tool I've got the point where the tool is against the bump stop, at this point I can slide the shock off it's mountings. However, I can't tell if there is no load on the spring - if there is load when I knock the spring eye bolt out its going to go with a bang - I'd rather that didn't happen!! Am I missing something? The haynes has a second jack under the vertical link in the diagram that it doesn't mention in the text. With the spring lifter taking the weight of the spring and the second jack taking the weight of the vertical link I assume the spring eye bolt will just slide out. I guess also once the shock is off and the spring eye bolt removed I can lower the spring lifter tool and breath again. Maybe I'm over thinking this.

Good stuff, thanks. I'm using comma gl4 oil nothing fancy really. Some redline might be worth trying for sure. Hub release pressures I found difficult to measure but they all seemed about 9.5kg which is the upper range. How accurate my measurements were I'm not sure though! During changes I've been applying pressure to the stick to try and load the syncro slightly before slotting it in. I'll be a bit quicker and see how I get on. All good stuff to learn. I think the clutch is self adjusting (?) so as you say it will need to bed in. It's only done 2miles so far. I can give this a go now I don't have a sticky throttle cable! What an annoyance that was, particularly around town.

Just to update this with a resolution. Having got the calipers out it was evident the threads are good and strong in comparison to those on the bleed nipple. Having ran an m10 bottoming tap through them they came up lovely. A new set of brass m10 fine nipples and fittings and all is right again. Phew! New pistons and seals have worked a treat. Thanks all for the help.

So... Back on the road (briefly), I dared a 2 mile drive with a known poor rotoflex coupling as I had to know if the gbox rebuild had worked. I'd like to get all the interior back in before starting on the next job! All is smooth and quiet, except... 3rd to 2nd. There can be a real crunch. Oddly if you are slowing for a roundabout (so going a but quicker) it slots in lovely, but go from 3rd to 2nd at lower speeds and there is a bit of a crunch. Its a bit of a 'fake' test as in normal driving you dont do this, but it still shouldn't do it. I wonder if there is an issue with the 2nd gear syncro ring. Doesn't affect 1st to 2nd or 2nd to 1st, both lovely changes. Is it a case of the new syncro rings bedding in? As it's reasonably okay I'm minded to refit all the interior and just be a bit careful driving it and see if some miles on the gearbox help. I need to change the rotoflex couplings before I drive any distance anyway. Maybe then a winter job to get the box back out check the rings (put old one back in?) and fit the new reverse operating lever I've managed to source. Any thoughts?

Thanks Gav/Paul. Just waiting on a 1/4in square drive spanner for the rear brake adjusters. They are rather tight and I don't want to knock the edges off with an unsuitable shifter. A few tugs on the rotoflex bolts with someone pressing the brake suggested they are indeed rather tight!

Okay I've got my wire brush and penetrating oil at the ready. I'll need to build up the front calipers and fill with fluid before I can lock the wheels so I've got a few days to give the bolts a good soak. Not sure I'm going to chance fitting without removing the driveshaft, doesn't sound like something for a first timer! Hopefully the bolts come out okay. They are surprisingly expensive (£30ish a side I recall), I guess they are high tensile and in a fairly unique size/thread.

Thanks Nick, good to know the gearbox work will have been trickier. I just hope everything comes apart without too much persuasion! Any tips for loosening off the rotoflex bolts? Is it best done with the drive shafts on the car? (bit worried about applying force when connected to the diff). I wonder if heat might be required, they look well rusted in. Also is it a requirement to put new bolts in when the coupling is changed? Happy to do so but the workshop manual is vague.

I wish I'd checked there first, 4 pistons and two seal kits was £67 from JP, £35.99 from Bigg Red. Nevermind! Know for next time.

The shimming aspect does concern me slightly. The 'if it ain't broke...' philosophy might be prudent for the UJ and wheel bearings for now. Unless that seems short sighted?

Not sure. CV boots are so I'd guess so? I like the alternative way of doing things! I have a polybush kit so whilst in I might as well do the wishbone bushes etc. Is it worth new wheel bearings (timken if I can find them), hub oil seals, and renew UJs whilst it's in bits? No signs of deterioration to date.

I've had no symptoms, I just happened to be under the car checking if I needed to replace brake lines or wheel cylinders whilst I was on with the front calipers and noticed. Interestingly it's only the RHS one, the LHS looks in good nick. They are metalastik ones as it happens. Sounds like it's not worth the risk at all, I will heed the advice! There is an ebay seller selling a pair of QH (unipart?) ones for £58. Think they may be worth a punt.

Thanks for the info, I'll see if I hear back. In the meantime I've found some lotus suppliers selling ones they claim are higher quality, £80 plus vat. The current ones are as per the photos below. The splits are not all the way through. I'm wondering if they have sufficient integrity to manage a couple of runs out (locally!!) to check my brake and gearbox rebuild before I tackle the rear?

Thanks all. The CV conversion seems the long term solution for sure, but having just overhauled the gearbox, the brakes and now this finding £650 is an ask. I think my route will be to replace like for like and look to do the CV conversion in 2000miles time (about 18 months). At least I'll be back on the road. I guess the question is what's the best of a bad bunch? I wonder if those sold by rimmers/Canley/james paddock are all the same item from the same manufacturer just at slightly different prices. Funnily enough I found that thread earlier today and emailed them for a price. Might not like the reply if they are £200 a piece though! I'll look for any with g&m on them. A couple of older threads mention getting decent ones from a supplier shortened to "QH" - any idea who that might be?

Hi, What is the latest on getting hold of quality rotoflex doughtnuts? I have just found a large split in one section on my car, looks to be nearly all the way through. Rimmers sell them for £50 each, James Paddock for £35, Canley's for £40. One company I found in a forum search seemed to have re-manufactured originals http://race.parts/Catalogue/Drivetrain/Rubber-Drive-Donuts/Heavy-Duty-Rubber-Drive-Donuts at £113 each. Does anyone have experience or guidance on which to choose? Is more expensive better? I'll be steering clear of the £30 for a pair ebay jobs for sure. I'd contemplate a CV conversion also if it's reasonably fool proof. I need to do some more research on the Nick Jones conversion, there is also the Rimmers one and TSSC seem to have one too. £500-700 seems a lot to spend vs a £100 doughnut. Easy to say until a cheapo doughnut fails and strands me maybe... Thanks, Rich

Thanks all for the very informative responses! Nipple therapy is an interesting name for a product! Though I only have one caliper to sort. Once on the bench I have managed to identify I indeed have two type16pb metric calipers. It looks like the thread is salvageable so I've ordered a M10x1 (fine) bottoming tap and replacement bleed nipples. I found the chrome on all four pistons is in a poor state so the calipers are going to get a full overhaul. I won't split them though as a couple of exploratory heaves on a breaker bar wasn't close to shifting the bolts.

Box is back in with a new reverse lever (NOS from Canley Classics). Not turned the engine over in anger yet so not sure of the outcome yet with regards the reverse idler. It looked like there was clearance but we shall see. In the meantime I've managed to strip the bleed nipple on RHS caliper (dissapointed in myself!) so there will be no road testing until that is sorted!

Hi All, I have managed to strip the bleed nipple thread in the RHS caliper, dissapointed in myself is an understatement! Any idea what thread the bleed nipple will be? By the commission number (late rotoflex mk3) they should be the metric 16PB caliper. Interestingly each caliper has a different type of bleed nipple (one short, one long) so I need to check I actually don't have two different calipers. Has anyone got any experience of tapping out the bleed nipple to a larger size and sourcing a different bleed nipple? Or possibly a helicoil thread insert? I did consider a recon caliper (or a pair) but I'm conscious some people have had issues with them. Prior to this I had no braking issues - the master cylinder was long overdue an overhaul, hence the ill-fated bleeding operation. Any thoughts/criticism of my mechanical sympathy welcomed! Richard