RE: [DML] Rebuilding Angle Drives

[<rob@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Bob,

The procedure depended on the cause of failure. Almost invariably the
flexible drive cable will have sheared at the adapter cup or spun loose from
the gear. In the early days when the cars were newer the cables would seize
on the first freeze of the winter (In the snow-belt anyway) because the
factory didn?t lubricate the cable where it passed through the axle and it
would trap rainwater. If the gears were OK I?d make a new cable by stamping
it square at one end and then carefully sizing it to be a press fit into the
steel ferrule which was then also press fit into the gear. As usable gears
became scarce and new angle drives were no longer available it became
necessary for me to have new gears made. The original gears were very soft
so I had mine heat treated which added to the overall cost. I marketed the
units using these gears as ?hard core? angle drives and gave a three year
warranty with them. I think I sold about two hundred and fifty or so of them
and had a failure rate of about five percent in that three year time frame
so it seemed to be a great solution until good reusable housings and other
small parts became hard to find.

Rebuilding them was a somewhat time consuming process and combined with the
cost of higher quality gears made them a bit expensive. Ultimately new units
were introduced by DMCH at the bargain price of $59.95 which made
consideration of making more of these gears out of the question. Who would
buy a rebuilt part (even with a longer warranty) when you could get a new
one for half the cost? Pricing appears to be what drives the mail order
market in DeLorean parts nowadays and it is becoming increasing difficult to
make high quality custom parts for the car at competitive prices. That is
not a knock just an observation. Unfortunately the failure rate of these new
units appears to be even higher than the originals and I hope when the next
batch comes in they?ll have the solution figured out.

 

Rob Grady, 

 

P.J.Grady Inc.  

   _____  

From: dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of
Videobob Moseley
Sent: Monday, November 26, 2007 7:18 PM
To: dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: RE: [DML] Re: WANTED: Angle Drive

 


Rob,
How does one "rebuild" a drive?
Are there replacement cable ends?
Are there adjustments that need be made?
I have two broken units now, it would be great if I could open it up and fix
it.


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