Carden Block Joint

["Slack Alice" Simon]

Both my cars had fabric joints, both required some juggling with the handbrake to clear the joints.

There is almost no clearance - probably just touching in both cases.

I think there are washers added in suitable places to aid the spacing, and on the more standard car, the lever went in and out several times to get the bends in it just right.


Obviously, they were not like this when new - probably not, anyway - but the adjustments are relatively minor and not worth further investigation.

Such "further investigation" could involve re-positioning of the body and/or the engine, for instance.


The later car has now had the propshaft replaced with one with U/Js both ends, there was plenty of clearance for the "new" joint.

So: expect a bit of trouble, but it should not be too difficult to get around.


If you do have a major clearance problem then, I'm afraid, you could be into checking that the front of the propshaft tunnel is actually where it was designed to be, or the engine is the correct

one in the correct place relative to chassis/body.

Not so easy to fix witha couple of washers and a bend in the handbrake.

[jonblob33]

Hi, I bought on of David’s propshafts,no way would it fit. I found the back mounting holes in the chassis badly worn allowing the engine to move out of line. Made up 2 pieces of 6mm plate about 50mm long, a tight fit in chassis rail then drilled after positioning engine properly- problem solved. A slight amount of wear in the front holes allows the engine to move quite a bit side to side when the back bolts are removed. 
Kevin

[stuartu]

Before draining the axle check that the offside rear hub is tight on the halfshaft.

Absolutely, Robert. Furthermore I would check that the pinion drive flange is tight on the pinion shaft, which will involve removing the carden block housing, not too daunting and this is going to happen anyway when you fit David's propshaft.Try the hub first. These both relate to the delay in take up.
I would be reasonably sure that the noise on left hand bends is not likely to call for a back axle rebuild but, somewhere along the line, bits of propshaft assy. are touching something - could be either end.

Regards,

Stuart

[AustinWood]

That's odd Kevin. I fitted one of David's shafts on my 1929 saloon, fitted perfectly. The only slight issue was the handbrake adjusting bolt needed to be shortened.

[jonblob33]

Hi Jim, the problem was not with David’s prop shaft, it was my engine badly out of line. Not only were the rear holes badly worn but the front mounts on the crankcase needed bushing. The fabric coupling had been rubbing also. Hadn’t had the car long at that point. Just one of many faults over the last 4 years. Hopefully got most sorted now.