Technical Drive shaft weirdness

[riwe]

Hi all,

Im in the prosses of restoring a 500 R from 73 and today I got the engine and trany back in the car. All went well until I tried to fix the drive shaft to the hubs. The drive shafts are to long!!!

I have to push the motor to one side in order to fit the shaft to the hub and it´s impossible to fit the other side after that. As far as I remembered the was some clearens between that drivshaft and the hub when I took it apart.

Driveshaft looks ok and I can move the from side to side about 15 mm. I'm al out of ideas. Is there different lengths on some shafts? I think this trany is from a 126 but I'm not sure. Is it the engine that's to low in the car? there is about 10mm on the tightes spott between that trany and the car.

Any help or idea would be greatly appreciated

Best regards

Rikard

ps. On the attached picture both side are fitted but the ONLY way to do that was to unbolt the forward fitting on both suspsension arms. ds

 

[Bambino]

Hi Rikard,
If you intend fitting a 126 transmission/differential to your 500 you will need to change to two driveshafts as the 126 had longer and thicker ones - the 126s had a wider rear track.
The shorter ones are available and are not difficult to fit once you have removed the transmission. When you order them make sure you get the thicker ones - 21.5mm I think rather than the standard 19mm 500 driveshafts. This may set you back a day or two, but the upgrade is worth it and besides, your transmission will not fit without them - sorry.
You will know if it is a 126 transmission as the bell housing is different. The starter motor is at about the 2 o'clock position rather than directly vertical as in the 500s.
Hope this helps,
Chris

PS: Welcome to the forum. There is heaps of good advice and great bunch of fellow enthusiasts here. When you can, post some photos of your car.

 

[kalsig]

If you order driveshafts for the 500R, they are the thicker, shorter ones.

 

[Bambino]

What's happening ?

Did you get the driveshafts ?
Do they fit ?
Is the car back on the road ?

From what I can see in the photos, it looks very nice.

Chris