Still on the topic of the infernal driveshafts, I decided that it really, really, was the case that they were too long. I have absolutely no idea why this should be the case but it is. As such there really isn’t a choice other than to get some new ones. It may be possible to shorten the other ones, seen here languishing on the garage floor, if only for use as race spares. However, that would have to be done by either cutting and sleeving them or, if Icould find someone to do it, friction welding them.
I’ve ordered some new driveshafts at a different length from the previous time. I spent an age measuring and checking and worrying about how long they should really be but ended up saying one shaft should be 20mm shorter than it was, the other 12mm shorter.
In the meantime I’ll get everything all tidied up, the problem with messing around with CV joints is that end up with moly grease everywhere and ready to put the car back together. One thing I’ll have to do is to take the outer CV joints off the old shafts. This is a real pain in the neck. According to the Haynes manual you have to expand the spring clip and then ease off the joint. Of course, it’s not as easy as that even though I’m quite sure that reassembly is the reverse of disassembly. In fact, it’s horrifically difficult. The manual even suggests you can do this while under a rusty Ford Fiesta which is clearly utterly bonkers.
However, a few websites out there seem to say that really just just clonk it off, I’m not sure I believe that but perhaps I’ll try it. Perhaps I need to buy a nice chunky copper faced hammer. After all, a new tool never harmed anyone, did it?