Page 1 of 1
alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 7:42 pm
by Sx279
as we all no to fit a m50 - 52 into an e30 you need to change the steering UJ and a shaft from danthe.
for a start two e34 UJ's are about £40 - £60 for a pair [going by current ebay listings]
and then you have to buy a shaft from danthe which i dont no how much that is.
i have used a vauxhall corsa c steering UJ at the cost of around £20 with about £3 worth of nuts and bolts.
first start by removing the current UJ by removing the who 13mm nuts and bolts on each end then remove the O/S steering rack nut and bolt
then loosen the N/S one and pull the e30 UJ off.
then get the corsa UJ and fit it to the steering rack it slides strait on with a little tap from a hammer.
then on the other end it dos not have splines it has two flat sides.
lock the steering wheel weather by some one holding it or some other way and grind two flats on the steering colum\
then slide the corsa UJ over the flat sides and mark wear to cut a slot for the locking bolt to go thru.
you may also have to do the same on the rack end splines to fit a locking bolt.
i used metal lock nuts and nyloc ones just for a little extra security.
there is no play what so ever in the joint after fitted if done correctly.
total cost £25.00.
i got this information from martin scott at scotts performance in dartford.
owner and builder of this
http://classifieds.pistonheads.com/clas ... car/896880
hope this helps...
Re: alternative to e34 UJ's
Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 7:44 pm
by Sx279
also i don't no how to make the pictures come up on screen rather than having to click the links.
if some one could advice.
Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Tue Nov 20, 2012 8:16 pm
by jmc330i
Sx279 wrote:as we all no to fit a m50 - 52 into an e30 you need to change the steering UJ and a shaft from danthe.
Really?? I've never used one of these. I've used either the standard E30 linkage or E30/E36 combo depending on the rack used - I've not used an E46 rack yet.
Can't see the pics on my phone, but nice to see someone trying something else
As for the images, you need to use tags to get the pics to show -

but without the spaces.
Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2012 2:19 pm
by Motorhole
Looks like a tidy bit of work that. Also, the UJs are much lower profile than the E34 items so probably provide even more clearance.
As for using Flickr for photos, not as simple as Jmc suggests with Flickr as they keep links to the actual images hidden. There is a simple way round it though!
1) Go to the Flickr page that shows the photo on it's own (right click on photo in photosream/set and select size to view).
2) Right click on the page and select 'view source' from the menu.
3) Do a search for 'farm'. The 4th result is the direct link to the photo. E.g.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8209/8202 ... 6c_c_d.jpg
4) Put this link into your E30Zone post using [img]and[/img] tags as above

Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2012 2:31 pm
by Curr946
I wonder could you use this on the E36 rack and would it allow more room for a 6 branch..
Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2012 7:41 pm
by Sx279
[motor hole] i think i will leave the link as links haha.
i will soon be doing my manifolds [re-welding originals]
when i do i will post more pics of the clearance.
thanks for the complement..
curr946
if the e34 uj fits the e30 rack and the e36 one, then this will fit the e36 rack as this one slides strait onto the e30 rack.
chears
Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2012 7:50 pm
by tomislav
Ooooh, might have to give this a go!
Good bit of info that.
Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Tue Nov 27, 2012 7:58 pm
by tomislav
Ooooh, might have to give this a go!
Good bit of info that.
Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 6:10 pm
by J90rdn
Just ordered mine from eBay. £17 delivered. Will let people know how I get on.
Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2013 7:33 pm
by BATTS91
Yes please keep updated , ill be trying this soon aswell
Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Thu Feb 28, 2013 6:28 pm
by oily318is
I used one of these today for my m50 conversion with e46 rack. but swaped the top part of the uj from the e30. fits great. 17.00 from ebay and 30 mins work!!(with the engine out)
Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Mon Mar 04, 2013 5:14 am
by E30-Doc
what do you mean by "swaped the top part of the uj from the e30"?, got any pics?
looking at doing this for the extra clearance on my m52 swap
Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Wed Mar 06, 2013 10:38 pm
by HairyScreech
There may be a way around having to cut the two flats onto the rack end by swapping that end out for a toyota uj part as they are 17mm-36 spline like the e30 column.
Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 7:09 pm
by oily318is
I stripped down the top uj of the corsa shaft then did the same to the original e30 shaft. after measuring both ujs i found them to be she same size which allowed me to fit the top part of the e30 shaft ( that connects to the steering shaft on the bulkhead) back onto the corsa unit to make a hybrid shaft. This also shortens the total length by about 25 mm allowing you to fit the e46 rack and because the corsa shaft is extendable it will fit the e30 rack as well. When repressing the end caps of the uj back they must be re staked properly as there is obviously a safety issue. The lower corsa joint also has a master spline which I used a needle file to remove. Thank you to sx279 for the original idea. Sorry no pics I don't know how to post them up!
Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Thu Mar 07, 2013 9:40 pm
by HairyScreech
As long as you get 6 nice stakes knocked in there then that is an even better idea than having to scav about for a toyota joint.
Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 2:05 pm
by Grrrmachine
Got a photo through so you guys can see what it looks like:

Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 3:35 pm
by BATTS91
Can the end caps be bought new ? Say bmw ? .
Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Fri Mar 08, 2013 5:39 pm
by oily318is
If taken apart correctly you won't need new end caps. And even if you do damage one or lose any of the needle rollers you have 2 spares from the corsa shaft they are all the same size.
Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 3:56 am
by E30-Doc
Any tips on how to take the top apart and how you re-staked it?
This looks really good, well done!
Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 9:41 am
by brucey
That does look good!
What's to stop you doing the same to the bottom uj?
Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Sat Mar 09, 2013 4:16 pm
by johnmaccow
Im interested in a possible how to if possible

.
Save modifying bloody manifolds.
Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Sun Mar 10, 2013 7:42 pm
by HairyScreech
http://www.classiccar.co.nz/articles/ti ... joints-176
This, but the bmw ones are staked in, so a little care with a chisel or similar to break the stakes first.
Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Thu Mar 14, 2013 5:00 pm
by BATTS91
These "stakes" , ive just attempted to take apart the bottom of a spare uj , and they just break on me wether gently persuaded or pressed out slowly they just break ? .
From what it looks line is there part of the uj ?
So if these are breaking how is this possible ?
Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 8:28 pm
by bimanut
Check out page 5,
http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... &start=100
thats how i did my 34 ujs.I`ve brought one of these corsa links goin to mod it next wknd.

Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 9:34 pm
by BATTS91
Sweet , i see dan just centre punched the alloy back down to hold caps back in . Thats all i was worries about really as when taking out the original spike bits got destroyed .
Might be losing business over this idea haha

Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 11:09 pm
by DanThe
BATTS91 wrote:Sweet , i see dan just centre punched the alloy back down to hold caps back in . Thats all i was worries about really as when taking out the original spike bits got destroyed .
Might be losing business over this idea haha

Still selling as usual, hammers and grinders are not everyone's first thought on how to modify a car

Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Sun Mar 17, 2013 11:49 pm
by BATTS91
Haha , very fair point sir . your gear is top notch and will continue to refer you to people .
Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 12:28 am
by HairyScreech
^^ yes as above, the people wanting the highest quality would not be looking to do this anyway and those that are looking to do this would be unlikely to spend good money on a custom shaft.
It's like Tesco and Harrods, I doubt they steal each others customers.
FWIW if you flatten the end of a chisel then you can replicate the flat factory punch marks exactly so the shaft doesn't even look tampered with.
Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 11:16 am
by E30-Doc
Brilliant!
I will get to this next weekend!
For any Australians who may stumble upon this thread, a corsa UJ is the same as a Barina XC (2005) uj.
Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 5:31 pm
by DHFiS
I built this E30/Corsa hybrid link today, not fitted yet but I will update.

Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Mon Apr 08, 2013 7:36 pm
by Grrrmachine
Good stuff; let me know how it goes so that I can Wikify it for those outside DanThe's target market

Re: alternative to e34 UJ's and danthe's shaft
Posted: Sun Apr 14, 2013 9:08 pm
by DHFiS
Fitted today. Looking at the photo I see I need to push the top section back further onto the splined shaft.
