Hi everyone,

I am starting my mid engine build. I have a chassis and have bought an Audi 1.8 engine and gearbox. I may upgrade to the turbo engine later but this is fine for now.

In order to make the rear end simple I am using Haynes rear wishbones with mx5 uprights. This solves a lot of problems such as suspension, hubs and handbrake.

My question is. Who would you recommend to make me a drive shaft adapter plate. The Audi drive shafts bolt on at the gearbox end and the mx5 bolt to the diff end. So all I need is a plate to bolt to the mx5 shaft and then to the Audi gearbox.

Thanks
Dan

I've machined up a few adaptors from MX5 to 100 or 108 Lobro style outputs.

Is your MX5 the (4) on 100mm or (4) on 110mm pcd?

What size are your Audi outputs?

Douglas.

MX5-lobro adaptor

[Edited on 17/2/16 by minitici]

Thanks for the reply Douglas.

I just needed to know it was possible. I haven't collected my engine/gearbox yet and have not bought mx5 bits yet. If you are willing, would you make them for me? How much are we looking at? And do you need me to bring you the parts to measure?

Thanks
Dan

A pair of adaptors are usually about £120 fully machined with threaded inserts.

Just need to know a couple of dimensions from your flanges and I can machine to suit.

Price possibly a bit less as you are going from Lobro type to MX5 which means that there is a little less machining to do.

[Edited on 17/2/16 by minitici]

Sounds good to me!

I will gather my donor parts and collect my engine and let you know.

Thank you

Dan

Thinking aloud, the actual drive shaft size and spline may be common between the two. Could you rebuild the drive shafts with new CV boots and the right end parts on them?

Thanks for the reply Nick.

I really wouldn't know where to start to do that. Apologies for my ignorance

Thanks
Dan

No apologies needed, it can be a bit bewildering taking them apart, just thought it might be an option and give you the chance to fit new rubber bellows at the same time.

It was a task to do, but it did result in decent new boots, fresh grease and peace of mind once fitted...



[Edited on 18/2/16 by nick205]

Looks like a neat job. What were these shafts for? And did you swap ends around to make them?

Thanks
Dan

They're standard Ford drive shafts from my 2.0 Pinto donor car. I obtained boot, can and clip kits direct from Ford themselves at the time. The hard part was getting the old metal cans off and then having to peen the new ones in place when rebuilding - easy once you know how, but a challenge to hold the spring loaded CV joints together whilst peening. Once done and fitted to my MK they never leaked and stayed looking good. Unfortunately although I cleaned the shafts for some reason I never painted them so they did rust a bit, which looked naff. If doing again I would paint the shafts, but avoid painting the ends that go inside the joints to avoid getting paint in the grease inside the joints.