Roger

Maybe this can help you fb wizards to find the post with all the comments...

The guy who drove the car actually left a comment in fb. There was no warning or indication whatsoever about what was about to happen (if I remember correct). It just snapped. I think he was doing about 55 mph, not sure.

There was more detailed info in the fb comments. If you can find them... I know it was someone who shared a link on TSSC fb page

Good point NM. The poor quality of new parts was one of the main reasons I started this thread. So far no one that has replied has actually bought and used these uprated CDD shafts. I have been working with quality assurance and quality control in manufacturing industry for more than two decades and the poor quality of spare parts nowadays can drive me nuts. I would love to do a quality audit in the CDD factory. It would probably give them a long list with major non-conformances and I would really like to see evidence of their corrective and preventive actions before buying those shafts.

Thanks Steve, sounds tempting. It´s just the "accumulating parts" that is so difficult for me given my remote location (if those parts you mention are only available as used parts?). I have to look at the drawings in the user manual again and look into the possibility to convert to Mk II CV spec. Those drive shafts are ticking bombs for me, they make me nervous

Hi Steve, Daft, question: I thought CV conversion was only possible om Mk II cars with Rotoflex as standard (?) Can you please explain a bit more in detail how you got CV shafts on a Mk I car? Is there a kit available, or did you make something yourself? Thanks in advance. Roger

I'm sure that proper inspection, asembly and maintenance will prolong their lives as Pete mention, but there still seems to be these random failures that worries me. Like the case you mention Peter. Metal fatigue is a scary thing. Difficult to detect since the cracks can be microscopic and not visible (and plenty of them) and once they reach a certain level the propagation process increase at an alarming rate. The new ones should not have any cracks at all neither visible nor hidden. Haven't checked how they are "uprated" but those new shafts should make me worry less. But still not sure. Will they completely eliminate the risk of shaft failure?? Given no racing just "normal driving" that is.

Thanks Pete, I'm aware of the importance of not switching them from right to left and I will certainly make sure they are maintained by the book and inspected carefully if I use the original shafts. It is indeed a lot of money. It still seem to be quite random how and when they fail. Several cases happened at low speed without any acceleration etc. But just the though of the possibility that they might fail takes away a lot of the fun when driving a Vitesse, since it makes me hestitate to use all that wonderful torque the six pot produce. Maybe I just worry too much

Hi All, It´s finally raining on The Åland Island which gives me some time to be indoors and enjoy reading our forum. There was recenty a post on fb about an accident on the M6 due to Vitesse with a broken rear half shaft. Thank God no one was hurt! I thought the post was lost in the never ending fb flow, but I found the post after scrolling down for about an hour or so... I’m always worried that this would happen to my own Vitesse. Seems to be a very common problem. Given the fact that it can be a fatal failure I’m looking for solutions in order to mitigate the risks. Unfortunately CV drive shafts is not an option for me given the fact that I have an early 1966 Mk I Vitesse without the Rotoflex shafts. Has anyone here on the forum any experience of these uprated drive shafts from CDD? If so, has they ever failed and broke at the same spot as the original ones? They cost and arm and a leg, so I want to be shure that they really eliminate the risk of "three wheel driving" before spending that kind of money. Thanks in advance. Roger.

Its still snowing a lot so I might have to follow the string to find it tomorrow! I'm glad I took the opportunity to do some welding outdoors a few days ago when it was sunny. No more welding for a while...

A bit delayed, but the storm Eunice (whats left of it) has obviously reached The Åland Island. My Volvo V70 should be in that pile of snow. Somewhere... All ferries to Sweden has ben cancelled, we are isolated for the moment. /Roger

Welcome to the forum Will, you will find it very friendly and useful! Good luck with your Spitfire 👍

Thanks all, I will try again tomorrow. Not so nippy here anymore, about zero Celsius (32 F) now and the snow is melting away. It can be minus 10 Fahrenheit on a cold winter day (-25 C). But we have had some really beautiful northern lights this winter. These pictures where taken in 2015 but we had the same a few weeks ago. It is mesmerizing to watch when the dark sky suddenly seems to be on fire with big green "flames" moving around above you!

Thanks Ian, I certainly need all the help I can get! Pictures are always appreciated. I assume you have left the control box for the dynamo "as is" without any modifications? In the future I would like to eliminate that thing completely and replace it with a fuse box. But at the moment I just need a working alternator so that I can start the engine and tune the carbs weather permitting. Any bodge that makes the alternator work will do for now. I live close to the harbour here and I have been tempted to go down there are just throw the alternator in the Baltic sea. I always find some very important mechanical problem that needs my immediate attention as soon as I have failed to solve an electrical problem.

Update: The alternator does not work when in the car, following advice above. The strange thing is that the alternator DID work when I had it in a vise, connected to a battery on my bench (made it rotate with my drilling machine and an old fan belt). Connections as per the diagram attached in the box and using an old light bulb I found. The lamp I used was originally from breaks or maybe flasher lights. I don’t know how many watts (behind tape now) but probably a lot more watts in that bulb compared to the lamp on my dashboard. Which makes me think about what Dave wrote on Sideways that the type of light bulb might have an impact on the system after all (certain amount of resistance needed???). OR something else is wrong in my wiring. The usual disclaimer: Consider everything I write in the “Electrical section” of this forum to be complete bollocks. Will try to connect everything again this evening

...and it works... Thank you Kevin!

Thanks for clarifying Kevin. I would suggest to change COM members primary group to "CoM Member", and "Member" as their secondary group.

I mentioned the possibility to use @mention as a way to get attention from CoM here on this forum. However, I noticed when I searched in the “Members” section that if you use “+More search options” and filter “CoM Member” then you get zero result. Is Chris @Triumph948 really the only member of CoM registered on this forum? If not, can "group" for these persons be changed from “member” to “CoM Member”? It would of course also help If these people mentioned their names & (club) title instead of nicknames in the member profile. Just a thought… /Roger

You can rest assured that this corrective action has been implemented. Properly. With passion and precision. I know perfectly well that talking to dead things won't help. But I have to admit that I have had long conversations with these studs as "physical shock" was given. I hope that my neighbours haven't seen or heard me. In fact, these studs gets a proper whack with a 1,5 kg hammer almost on a daily basis, every time I go to my garage.

Thanks John, a picture says more than a thousand words! No, I haven't but that penetration oil seems to be very interesting! Never seen it before. It comes in two versions apparently. One version that also cools down the part to minus 45 C. Is that the one you have used? Deblock Ice I plan to go to Sweden in March, I will see if I can find it there. I hope that such a low temperature will not make the stud too fragile and snap. But it's worth a try, I have tried everything else. I did replace the phosphoric acid with citrus acid as you suggested earlier in this thread, but the acid don't penetrate all the way down. Shock-freeze to minus 45 might help. At least it sounds very effective in theory! /Roger

Thanks for explaining NM, that makes sense.

I would try the rope trick if the engine turned, but this one is seized.

I have'nt figured out how to raise it without destroying it. It seems to be welded to the block. I will try one more time welding nuts on the two remaining studs. I have not added heat to the equation yet, but my neighbour is a plumber and he has acetylene gas welding equipment. I might ask him to heat up the head next time. Never give up...

As I mentioned above, I'm completely ignorant regarding all things electricity. But I found this (Toyota) wiring diagram that looked almost identical with the diagram that came with my alternator. It seems like the S connection has some magical function depending on where you attach it. My thinking was to attach it as close as possible to the battery +. Never trust anything I write about wiring and electrical stuff, I have no idea what I'm talking about.

Progress report: The snow has finally melted away enough to give me some space to weld outdoors so today I made a new attempt to weld on nuts on the seized studs I have been swearing at for a couple of months now. Last time I tried it was so cold that I did everything too fast. This time I prepared the nut properly by making some "space" for the weld and I also took away all rust and oil to make sure I had a good clean surface for my welding. I only have a 240V small MIG without gas so I weld with flux core wire, but this time I managed to produce a decent weld (well, according to my standard...). Then I used a 60 cm long breaker bar, main problem was to keep the engine still. But one of the studs finally came loose. Victory at last! The other two nuts broke at the weld, so no joy. I think I have to crank up the voltage to get a hotter weld next time I try. Well at least some progress! I also tried to use an impact wrench. No sucess. I probably just made small cracks in my weld so that it snappet when I used the breaker bar.