Trevor,

The vibration occurs above about 50mph, and I haven't tried to do this in reverse!

I don't know whether the half shafts are straight but the wheels were balanced (off the car).

The Propshaft appears to lie along the central line of the transmission tunnel (See Pic). If that is what you were asking



The yokes welded on each end of the propshaft both lie in the same plane. Is this correct? (I am worried by this!)

I have found some very slight END play in both axes of the front UJ but no rotational play. The rear UJ is perfect in all directions. I don't know whether this small amount of movement is enough to cause the vibration but I suspect it might.

As regards misalignment, it is difficult to see how much there is at the front end, but the rear is easier (see Pic2). To me, it does not appear excessive.



I am now wondering whether it is all down incorrect alignment of the yokes on the propshaft causing damage to the front UJ.

Andy

PS Just checked the OE propshaft and the yokes on that are welded on parallel too, not at 90° so that may not be an issue after all.

I need to take some measurements as this is getting out of hand , there has to be a simple solution to each problem, because in reality very little has changed.

As I see it there are two basic problems here, the first is the vibration which appears to be in the drive line,

The questions that spring to mind are

Is the vibration speed related?
Does it occur in forward and reverse?
Are the half shafts straight?
Are the wheels balanced?
Is the gearbox tailshaft in line with the nose piece on the diff on the centreline of the car?
Are the U/Js correctly set at 90 degrees to each other?
Are the U/Js in good condition?

probably other things as well

Check each item one at time and evaluate the effects of any changes made

The second problem is the height of the engine this is fairly easy to solve by fabricating a couple of new mountings or cutting and shutting a set of the original mounting. I guess this needs to be done in situ to ensure the alignment is correct

Andy I think your clutch squeal is probably thrust bearing, what a pain.
Trevor

Hi Trevor,

I agree that the shorter propshaft may exacerbate the "misalignment" and raising the axle by lowering the chassis with spacers and/or using shorter spring shackles would likely improve matters.

So far as my particular problem of lack of clearance above the gearbox is concerned I still cannot see how the frontplate hole location can be altered. Remember that the Magnette front engine mounts have three bolts holding them to the engine, two on the front plate and one into the side of the crankcase. If the frontplate holes were altered the bolt would no longer align with the cast boss on the side of the crankcase. As it is, I have already transferred these mounts from one engine to the other using all three bolts, so the relative locations of all three holes must be the same.

The only way I can see of lowering the front end would be to fabricate entirely new mounts. It might be possible to weld up the holes in the existing mounts and re-drill them lower down, but I would have to examine them to see if this is possible.



I am planning to have a close look at the UJ's today to see if I have the same problem as amartyn. There was quite a rattle from the transmission on the overrun during our trip home.

The clutch squeal is still there, mainly when in slow moving traffic and using the clutch repeatedly. A horrible sound which quite spoils the impression the car makes!

Andy

The problem here surely is that the 5 speed gearbox reduces the distance between the rear axle and the tailshaft of the gearbox, so that any problems that may have been present are amplified.
The 5/8" spacers go some way to reduce the "misalignment" but to fit wedges to the axle I wonder if this would make the situation worse. sketching out the problem on a "fag packet" it seems to me that by raising the axle may lessen the problem. To do this a spacer under the axle would lower the suspension but raise the axle, using MGB shackles would do the same thing as they are shorter.

I am particularly interested in the problem as I have an Alexander Overdrive gearbox so the propshaft is even shorter,I had no problem previously.

I think the propshaft must be the first thing to look at, perhaps the yokes are misaligned as Guntie says.

Rechecked the front mounting plates on the 1500 against the 1800 and they are different, but as you say Andy there is no record to say if it is original on the 1800.
Trevor

Have checked clearance between the sump and the front cross member and it is less than 10mm, it doesn't knock due to engine movement but I don't think less than that would be satisfactory. So I assume that the engine mountings were changed over when the 5 bearing engine was fitted.
Have measured the spacers under the gearbox rear cross member and they are 5/8". these come with the Hi gear fitting kit for the Ford gearbox.
Have also today dismantled one side of the rear axle mounting to the rear spring and despite what my spring expert suggested there is no way that I can see to re-align it so that the front of the diff is raised. It was correctly fitted and located to the spring.
It still seems to me that the vibration must be caused by miss-alignment the engine gearbox is angled downwards at the back and the diff is angled down at the front, ideally the two axis should be parallel.
So I think I am going to prepare some wedges to raise the front of the diff as an experiment, will also need longer U bolts and some sort of location device.
A job for the winter me thinks!

A few years ago I also had propshaft issues, when I originally got the car. It gave all the symptoms of a knackered u/j, such that the previous owner gave me a spare, new, item to fit when the problem was pointed out to him.
The u/js were fine however: like Martyn I then went down the road of drive train alignment etc (I did get someone tell me that diffs can be straightened by wedge-shaped shims?), but then the light dawned.
Having an overdrive gearbox the propshaft had a u/j at each end, with a splined joint in between them. Someone had obviously had this apart and then reassembled it out of phase so that the u/js amplified the oscillation instead of cancelling each other out.
Attempted balancing also revealed a (new) propshaft shaped like a banana, so a complete replacement was called for. With these 2 items fixed the transformation was complete. It didn't do much for my opinion of previous owners, though.