Hi Stephen,

Yes I fitted the spacers supplied in the Hi-Gear kit

Good pic Andy - afraid I haven't summoned up the motivation yet to go and jack up my car and get a photo of the propshaft, but obviously it would be interesting to find out how much variation there is. Have you got the spacers from the hi-gear kit between the gearbox mount and the floor ?

I didn't have a problem with clearance when I converted my transmission with the Hi-Gear kit. My photograph shows the clearance I have with the rear axle hanging.



I wonder whether the problem only manifests itself when aftermarket rear shock absorbers are fitted which may have a greater extended length than the original dampers. I note that the pictures in the Technical article show Avo shock absorbers fitted. Mine are still original fitment items.

Hi Stephen

The photos are very interesting, , before my car actually (and finally) goes off for painting next week I will modify the cross member as per the photos, I would agree with both you and John that the suspension is fully extended and make the situation appear worse.
It is as you say an elegant simple solution, makes you wonder why the production team complicated the cross piece originally during the design stage.
Trevor

John Beesley passed on some good photos from Ray Hunt (Leighton Buzzard) who had a problem recently with propshaft clearance doing the Hi-Gear conversion and found an elegant solution. I've added the photos to the Technical section

Discussing it with John, I was trying to remember if I had any problem with the propshaft hitting the cross-piece on the bottom of the tunnel, and there may have been some occasional clunks on bumpy roads, but I think this stopped when I replaced the rear shocks. We did wonder if having the car on a lift to install the new propshaft made the problem appear worse, as the wheels would be hanging down further than they ever would on a real-life suspension rebound.