adhawkins Posted July 15, 2005 Share Posted July 15, 2005 I ask as the early SEI's used the live axle's diff (English), but in a Westfield casing with westfield made halfshafts/drifshafts. These can fail and are a right pain in the to fix. I can testify to this. The only hassle in repairing it was in actually getting hold of one (says the man who stood back and watched it being replaced ). Since then (thanks Mike ) I've had some spares made up for me at 60 quid a go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itguy Posted July 16, 2005 Share Posted July 16, 2005 Was going to say - replacing the driveshafts is simple enough - I've never had to try and source one though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotboy15 Posted July 16, 2005 Author Share Posted July 16, 2005 Not sure the age of the chasis I am afraid. The guy said the ignition thing could be repaired for £60 and the only reason it wouldn't work was because it was on the underside of the car near the road so got blasted with water/salt. Think I may have found another car which interests me although I emailed the guy yesterday afternoon and still no reply. It is funnily enough in the exact same town as the other one mentioned. Found it on http://www.westfield-world.com/4sale2.html so there is no indication of how old the advert is or if it is still for sale and the only contact detail is an e-mail address. Cheers again guys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Purdie Posted July 16, 2005 Share Posted July 16, 2005 scotboy15 You have PM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted July 16, 2005 Share Posted July 16, 2005 Any idea of the age of the chassis? I ask as the early SEI's used the live axle's diff (English), but in a Westfield casing with westfield made halfshafts/drifshafts. These can fail and are a right pain in the to fix. I disagree. Driveshafts can be made to order easy enough by Bailey Morris and other such folk. The Factory may still have driveshafts in stock. The problem only really surfaces if you're putting more than about 150-160bhp through the early, weedy driveshafts. Andy has (as did I) early, weedy driveshfts, and waaay too much power to keep them. The fix, although expensive, is to buy later type rear uprights and the V8/"race" driveshafts, which are pretty beefy (or rework the entire rear end and fit a Sierra diff. Waaaaaaaaay too much trouble if you ask me). I'm putting well over 200bhp through my Escort type "race" driveshafts, and they're fine, touch wood... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adhawkins Posted July 16, 2005 Share Posted July 16, 2005 The fix, although expensive, is to buy later type rear uprights and the V8/"race" driveshafts, which are pretty beefy I'd be interested to hear more about this Mr. B...I thought the only way was a switch to the Sierra diff... Can you give any more details? Even if it's expensive, at 70 quid every time a drive shaft fails, then it may well work out cheaper in the long run... Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted July 17, 2005 Share Posted July 17, 2005 You have the info. All you need to do is call the factory to see if they still stock/make the race/V8 driveshafts for Escort diffs. If they do buy them, and some uprights. It's gonna be 500 quid though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adhawkins Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 Ok...maybe a job for the Winter then... Cheers. Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markcoopers Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 Ok Let me quantify that further.... They are not £15 from any Ford breakers. They would require the old bits to be sent to Baily or who ever, and at £70 or close too, a reasonable cost. Put this into context, the chap is looking at spending £4.5K on a no hassle first westfield experience. I had one and yep I broke a shaft, and yep it took time and money and was in my oinion a pain in the to fix. Compared to me live axlecar that also broke a shaft and cost £15 to replace. Your commens do beg another question though Mr B, I'll post a seperate question after I've had a search. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole Hall Posted July 18, 2005 Share Posted July 18, 2005 Hi I was in same position 3 months ago - travelled bl**** miles all over England and Wales looking and learning. Ended up with a nice SEI in colour I wanted in excellent condition - not far from the money you are looking at - and it turned out to be fairly local!! Have you looked on ebay - there was a good choice and you can see the prices Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adhawkins Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 All you need to do is call the factory to see if they still stock/make the race/V8 driveshafts for Escort diffs. If they do buy them, and some uprights. Just done some more searching regarding this (wondering whether I was just moving the weakness somewhere else). Your post regarding this in another thread seems to indicate switching from drum brakes on the rear to disks. Thing is, I already have disks on the rear (it's an early SEiW with an English diff). So, where do I stand now? Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 You will possibly find that the uprights you have do not have a large enough opening on the rear to accommodate the larger UJ of the thicker driveshaft. Been there, done that... If you do have uprights that can accommodate the race/V8 driveshafts, all you have to do is swap the shafts. Nice and easy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adhawkins Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 But do I then just move the weakness from the shafts (relatively inexpensive) to the splines (more expensive / rare as proverbial rocking horse do-do)? Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveRST Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 Andy, Your purple one has English IRS? Thought it was newer than that. Read my topic here about breaking drive shafts. Also found out then about the different size of V8 shaft and standard shaft. And how larger upright is required to accommodate V8 shaft. As far as I am concerned its am major hassle if you break a drive shaft or stub. Took me 4 weeks to sort and cost £200. Factory don't make em. Drive shafts stubs are rare as anything. ('Arm' had some made up recently, I have spares now and maybe you too?). If I had a choice between English & Sierra diff, I'd pay a fair bit more for Sierra. Cheaper to fix and much cheaper LSD's. Didn't know anything about that when I bought my car though. ScotBoy15 - which car were you looking at on that link you posted? I just get a list of loads of cars. Cheers, steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blatman Posted July 20, 2005 Share Posted July 20, 2005 Possibly. BUT the only chap with less than 200bhp who has had a problem with the stub axles is Nob Ravin. I have a feeling that everyone else that's had problems has *well* over 200bhp... I'll stand to be corrected though. IMO, with a pretty standard set up (road clutch on the throbber?) the drive train is pretty wel protected. It's when you start removing the springs and weight/mass from the drivetrain that problems occur... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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