Henry Boler Posted March 5, 2015 Report Share Posted March 5, 2015 Hi All, Me again with an extension to the UJ problem! So as it turns out the rotoflex doughnut is wrecked as well on my GT6... What's the deal with replacing them, I understand that some on the market are a load of rubbish and this is obviously a very important part of the car... Any safe places to buy them from, what sort of price should I expect? Henry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted March 5, 2015 Report Share Posted March 5, 2015 Metalastik are the prober ones £150+ each last I saw. The clube is selling some new frontline ones that are supposed to be better than the cheapo £25 ones, but in all honesty are pretty unproven long term. I spoke to a VERY knowledgeable chap the other day who uses the cheapo QH ones on the basis they go fairly regularly, so everything is easy to disassemble. I sort of see his logic, but it can be a PITA. I have converted my car to CV jointed shafts (Nick Jones conversion) or canleys do a CV shaft too. However the one I used uses the metro/mgf bearing pack in the VL, so needs nothing to set it up. However, the VL does need machining. I have yet to drive the car (STILL unfinished) but others who have converted to CV's are very happy with them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Boler Posted March 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2015 Having dragged myself away from my dismantling, cleaning, sand blasting, painting fun, I've just had a look through the car's history to find that the Rotoflex Doughnuts were purchased in 2007 from James Paddock. They still list the exact same part on their website, granted for twice the price now! The ones on my car have done very well considering my driving style and about 6 total driveshaft wipeouts from various things including yoke failure, UJ failure, and the right hand one survived a rotoflex mounting bolt shearing off causing it to distort and bang away on the leaf spring for 20 miles before arriving home as I couldn't be bothered to wait for the AA!! I might just buy a set of those... Henry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Boler Posted March 5, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 5, 2015 Almost had a stroke when I saw on Rimmer Brothers they are selling the expensive ones for nearly £500!!!!! Seriously, it's a load of steel plates in a blob of rubber!? £555 gets you the complete cv conversion from the same page! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted March 5, 2015 Report Share Posted March 5, 2015 See, it makes sense! Not only that, putting it all on the car is so much easier with CV's. Then the only issue should be that long lower bolt. That is a trickier fix (machining and bearings I have heard of, and also drilling so a grease nipple can be fitted) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 6, 2015 Report Share Posted March 6, 2015 I'm just about to do this conversion on my Mk2 Vitesse - Canley Classics for me !! Regards. Richard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted March 6, 2015 Report Share Posted March 6, 2015 Watch out for clearance at the back of teh VL. Some need the edge grinding off, but you only discover that when you get to final assembly. (I know somebody who has done a couple of these conversions, both needed grinding out) It is in the instructions somewhere, apparently only some (very few??) have the issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Boler Posted March 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2015 Keep us up to date on how that goes for you Richard, I'll be interested to know as this is probably going to be an option for me in the near future. For now though unfortunately I'm tight for cash so it's going to have to be the £60 option as I don't intend on keeping the noise box off the road for long! Henry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 9, 2015 Report Share Posted March 9, 2015 Henry. Not sure if you went to the Triumph / MG spares day on the 1st March ?? There was a chap there who makes CV conversions for Stags specifically and Lotus vehicles - basically Rotoflex set-ups etc and other driveshaft requirements. I asked if he did the same for Vitesse Mk2's, but he said no. However, at the show I was the 11th person to ask such a question and he is now keen to progress this, although he would need the Vitesse to work on. He would offer a significant saving and all that he asks is that there is a photographic history of the install + regular running reports. He had a few of his CV conversion units at the show and I have to say they looked superb and extremely well made. He is based in Worcs area, a bit far for me to drop the car off as I live in East Sussex. However it is probably worth the inconvenience logistically if a Mk2 owner or similar was so compelled. So if you or any forum reader would like to investigate this, then I'm happy to supply his details and you can take it from there. His original decision not to do Rotoflex Triumphs, is due to CC (and I think Rimmer) supplying them. However, after so much interest I feel he is looking to review that and of course this can be reflected with cost. Just thought I'd mention it. Regards. Richard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan C Posted March 10, 2015 Report Share Posted March 10, 2015 Henry I completed a full rear suspension rebuild last year with new rotoflex couplings, UJs and wheel bearings. I didn't have access to a spring lifter but did discover a trick to help in the reassembly which might be useful to you. Getting the spring eye bolt mount and corresponding upper hub bolt mount to line up is extremely difficult even with the spring retained in it's original tensioned position. After many failed attempts to get the two of them to line up, I decided to try again with a piece of hardwood between the top of the rotoflex coupling and the underside of the leaf spring. This acts as a pivot point when you jack up the driveshaft from under the brake drum. The outer driveshaft will swing up when the wood makes contact with the leaf spring and the two bolt mounts magically line up. I took two days of struggling to fit one bolt and then only half an hour to fit the other side using this method. One of the dreaded lower hub bolts was the reason I carried out the rebuild. It had started to sound like a creaky door when driving. I discovered that the other hub had a stainless steel insert fitted which meant you could pull that bolt out by hand. Has anyone else come across this mod? I also had grease nipples fitted to both hubs to try and keep the new bolts well lubricated. I ran a hackaw blade through the hub bolt hole at the same point as the nipple hole. This will form a channel for the grease to travel along. I fitted the cheaper £50 QH rotofex couplings. The last ones, also QH, were still in good nick after 10 years of service. I have to agree that the ever increasing price of these couplings might make me consider the CV conversion next time around. Cheers Alan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Boler Posted March 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 Richard, thanks for the heads up on that one, certainly sounds interesting but it's a bit far for me too unfortunately as I live in the new forest near Southampton... I put the car back on the road last night completely fixed. Got a set of sealed GKN UJ's and a pair of QH Couplings, which like Alan were the same as the ones I removed which had made 8 years on the car, and had survived lots of major faults which I would have expected to render them useless... I did a complete refurb of all the drive joints, sand blasted and repainted so it all looks good again under there! She's driving like new again today! Hopefully this time she'll be able to handle the abuse I give her!! Henry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Boler Posted March 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 Oh, and one other thing, she seems to have lost her slight imbalance at high speed as well now, presumably because of the new rotoflex joints, so she's as smooth as anything the entire way to the top speed! Henry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clive Posted March 11, 2015 Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 Good man! Handy having those old aerodromes around the New Forest for speed testing!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry Boler Posted March 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 11, 2015 Hahaha! You got it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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