GL Auto Driveshaft Refurbish

[RussGLAuto]

Well gents,

After many moons searching for off the shelf replacement driveshafts and CV joints my basket came up empty. These are not the same length as the standard easy to come by manual gearbox jobs, hence my hens teeth search.

A little known gent called Bob from Drive Shaft UK came to the rescue;

https://www.driveshaftuk.com/driveshafts/

Says he can fully refurb my CV shafts and joints for a year £189 + VAT.

In 3-4 days.

Game on!

I'll let you know how it goes...

[RussGLAuto]

Morning gents,

Both driveshafts removed and boxed up, needed a couple of extensions to reach the CV bolts. Think I have also found the scorce of the oil weep you can see in the pic - the final drive to CV flange oil seal.

Screenshot 2022-04-23 at 06.52.46.png

Hmm. That's going to be a tricky one to reach without a lift. Anyway, one thing at a time, need to find and oil seal kit first...

[RussGLAuto]

Good time to change that crusty wishbone too... the bolt undid with no protest at all much to my surprise!

Screenshot 2022-04-23 at 21.29.42.png

c/w heritage poly bush rubber bits and all new hardware. Lovely jubbly!

[mark1gls]

Coming along nicely

[RussGLAuto]

Driveshafts getting picked up Monday. Should be back by Friday.

[RussGLAuto]

Afternoon gents,

Quick update - just rxd my driveshafts back from Driveshafts UK.

They look FANTASTIC! How sad am I....?!

Good to his word Bob also threw in a new set of CV join bolts and Axel nuts. What a gent!

Screenshot 2022-04-29 at 13.43.31.png

Also been experimenting with caliper paint. Carriers looking reasonable.

Screenshot 2022-04-29 at 13.43.55.png

They can also match VW Paint Codes:

Screenshot 2022-04-29 at 13.44.28.png

Time to get spannering!

[mark1gls]

Very clean drive shafts and greased up ready to go….

Keep the updates coming

[RussGLAuto]

Afternoon gents,

Last post on this subject. Drive shafts refitted, only issue was how to stop the shafts spinning while trying to torque down the CV joint bolts. After some rear end scratching, a simple fix was to insert two wheel bolts into the hub and brace a breaker bar in-between them against the floor. Worked a treat.

Sorry, forgot some pics...

Quick test drive, no issues.

What did I learn, well, it seems many things for the auto gearbox variant are difficult to come by these days, so refurbishment is the way to go. Not necessarily cheeper, but it does keep the provenance intact.

What's left to do? Well, that passenger side wishbone to change still. I did see an engine lift bracket on the Heritage website. Do I need this to lift the engine? If so, how is it used if anyone knows please?

https://www.heritagepartscentre.com/uk/ ... acket.html

Might as well change the engine mounts while changing the wishbone.

Also got that cancelled paint repair rebooked for the 1st Aug. Rob is a first rate mobile smart paint repairer, his details attached if anyone in the market. Incidentally, he used to work at VW Bishops Stortford branch, the same branch Gladys was sold at! Small world indeed...

Screenshot 2022-05-08 at 14.22.29.png

He's going to refresh the front valance, leading edge of the bonnet and a couple of other small areas where rust spiders are making themselves known under the paint. Namely the swage line just behind both doors.

Other than that, back at sea for three months. Currently heading East towards Malta... Have a great summer and thanks again for the support, especially Mark1gls.

Cheers

Russ

[mark1gls]

Great news it’s all back together and driving fine.
Thanks for the kind comments, always happy to help out if I can just a shame you are so far away or I would pop round and help.

[RussGLAuto]

Great news it’s all back together and driving fine.
Thanks for the kind comments, always happy to help out if I can just a shame you are so far away or I would pop round and help.

Likewise