Hardy Spicer UJs

[AMMO]

As part of the winter upgrade I currently have the prop and diff out of my car.

 

I'm fitting a Titan LSD to the diff. I'm going to fit this myself as shipping a diff to and from a specialist is a pain. After years of shimming Moto Guzzi rear drive boxes I'm pretty confident it will be quite easy. The difficult part is setting the pinion depth and this has already been done. My pal Steve Gilbert did this himself years ago and he didn't have any problems.

 

The prop is the original 1989 one and although the UJs have been greased regularly the rear spider is a bit notchy. I wanted to upgrade the UJ spiders to something a bit beefier as my Duratec is putting out some 185 ft lb / 250 Nm.

 

The spider cups are a nominal 24 mm, I haven't measured the span yet.

 

The prop doesn't vibrate so I can't see the benefit of sending the prop away to be fitted with bearings and re-balanced. The prices I'm being quoted to do this are reasonable but are approaching the cost of a new prop.

 

There is no guarantee that the new prop will be fitted with the best bearings available. My prop is an odd length as the car was originally a Crossflow with the engine further forward so if I get one from Caterham it will probably be fit for a Crossflow not a Duratec. The later Duratec props are shorter than mine and probably have been specced correctly for the torque these engines generate.

 

The object of the excercise is not to save money but to make sure I end up with the correct UJ spiders that are capable of withstanding the torque as I don't want to end up with a prop shaft in my, or my passenger's, lap.

 

GKN are sending me a catalogue in the post via my bearing supplier but I'm wondering if anybody here has done this? Anybody sourced the spiders and done the work themsleves?

 

Anybody know what cup sizes the UJ spiders have on the late cars. I have heard 27mm but don't know if this is correct.

 

Thanks

 

Ammo

Raceco.com

[Rob Walker]

Ammo,

 

I had uprated U/J `s fitted to my prop a couple of years back. Sorry I cannot find the invoice but it was all done by Chards , 1 Cole Rd , Bristol.Tel 0117 9717341 IIRC the cost of the bearings and a full balance and repaint was £80. The guy commented that the original u/js were the cheapest/lowest spec available and not up to the job. My prop was also bent by 3mm and out of balance by 20 grams at one end. Excellent service from Chards

 

Rob

[AMMO]

Thanks Rob.

 

Going to Arch tomorrow for some chassis mods. Whilst I'm in the area I will pop into

Bailey Morris who have heavy duty UJ spiders in stock. I will either get them to fit them for me if they are not too busy or probably take them home with me and fit them myself.

 

Thanks for the contact anyway. It might come in handy to owners in your neck of the woods.

 

Ammo

Raceco.com

[AMMO]

Bailey Morris supplied and fitted new spiders, balanced and painted the prop for £89.00 + VAT. Dropped prop off at 11.00 am. Picked up at 1.00 pm.

 

Very happy with service.

 

Ammo

Raceco.com

[Mavic82]

Ammon,

 

Interested to see your car as mine is also '89 vintage and will be dropped off at Arch tomorrow . I to have an odd length prop shaft as the car started aas a crossflow but I had it modified and the joints changed by a company in Nuneaton who were excellent.

 

Seems you are sorted now though.

 

Cheers

 

Guy

[AMMO]

Cheers Guy

 

 

 

Ammo

Raceco.com