Hi all
Is this any help
That’s a 4 speed box not 5.
Hi All,
Thanks for the replies. Didn’t think it would be as easy as that. Iwill try dropping the gearbox down a bit and see if I can get to it. Failing that I will start growing octopus arms.
Regards
Jeff 72+2 5 speed
Here’s a photo I found that shows the box and engineer out of the car. Do you can get a good idea of location.
If cable isn’t too tight if think you’d have decent chance via prop shaft access hole.
One of the first jobs I had to tackle on my Elan was the erratic speedo behaviour (it bounced enthusiastically ±20mph road speed). The cable outer was worn and had been made to run a tight radius down by the gearbox so it was ready for replacement. There was also a little oil weeping from the angle drive.
I undid the gearbox mounting brackets and gently lowered the tail of the gearbox using a jack which gives sufficient space to see what you’re doing. The angle drive dropped out easily as the clip screw was only finger tight! The whole adapter and drive could easily rotate and there was limited pressure on the bearing o-ring.
The speed angle drive looked in generally good condition, span freely and the quill was barely worn. But the speedo cable had been cross threaded onto the angle drive.
I had the thread chased out by a local machinist. For future reference its a ¾" x 26tpi British Standard Brass (BSB) thread. After regreasing the drive and installing new paper gasket and experimenting with a fibre sealing washer (5/16" ID, 5/8" OD) on the cable end I’ve not had any subsequent leaks and the speedo is smooth at legal speeds.
I hope that is of some use to people on similar predicaments.
Can I ask a silly question? I, too, have a leaking angle drive, but I also notice that there’s some weeping from the bearing in which the nylon driven gear inside the tailshaft. Is it possible to pull the bearing (and drive gear?) out of the casing while the gearbox is in place to get at the o-ring? I’m thinking that replacing it, along with a slight bit of sealant between the casing and bearing shoulder should help reduce my current leak tremendously. Also, if this is possible, am I correct in assuming that putting it back together is just a simple reversing of the disassembly process?
Thanks in advance.
I don’t know about the 5 speed gearbox but if you have the 4 speed then it is possible to remove the gear and bearing with the gearbox in place but it is awkward to get to and that can make prising the bearing out of the casing a bit of a challenge, you just need a bit of patience. You will get some oil run out when you remove it, even if the gearbox has been drained first, so be prepared for that. Replacement is just a reversal of the removal procedure but you may want to consider adding an O ring (in addition to the paper gasket) between the bearing housing and the adaptor. There isn’t one shown on the parts diagram but the recess in the housing is deep enough and a standard size (BS013) fits perfectly.
Yes you remove the fork that holds the aluminium bearing in place and just lever out the bearing and the plastic gear. There is an O-ring on the bearing that can be replaced to seal it properly or you can put some sealant under the flange as you indicated.
Make sure the fork has not distorted and that it is firmly holding the bearing in place.
Assembly is just reverse of removal. 
The gear shaft through the bearing has no seal and just a grooved scroll along it to hopefully move the oil back up the shaft and into the gearbox. Its is normally leaks along this that are the problem. Trying to seal the angle drive better helps but difficult to get total oil tight !
I have thought about machining the bearing to fit a small lip seal but never got around to it. Just one of many improvement opportunities 
cheers
Rohan
In addition to Rohan and Roger’s comments, you can get access by lowering the tail of the gearbox. Just support the gearbox with a jack and lower once the chassis mounting bolts are removed.
A tip somewhere in this forum that originated (apparently) from Dave Bean is to give up trying to seal the adapter and bearing with the paper/fibre gasket and simply glue the two pieces together.
Once you fiddle with the cursed thing enough you realize that the adapter is just that, an adapter. It serves no other purpose and can be considered a single piece with the bearing. The two pieces can be glued together with an aluminium epoxy and fix the leak at that joint once and for all.
Initially I wasn’t too keen on this idea but then decided that it was trivial and harmless. The resulting single piece is simpler to fit/remove than the two separate pieces. Of course, my angle drive still leaks everywhere else but one day I’ll master it… 
Nick
Great idea Nick. I can see taking it further and providing some sort of ‘mechanical’ attachment as well.
Maybe some small screws. I would think the epoxy bond would break loose with the twisting and turning of trying to get the bearing piece out.
Wow! Thank you all for the helpful ideas. This one little area has caused me more angst than probably it was worth, but the constant little puddles have been driving me nuts. Especially since it didn’t seem to leak pre-restoration. Now, on to the other myriad things I have to do to get it back on the road…
Thanks again, and Merry Christmas!
Chris
Just got done with the leak from the speedo right angle (ra) drive on my 7. What I found was the the leak appears to originate between the adapter and the ra drive faces. If you notice the “nut” on the ra moves rather freely up and down as there is no seal. As such any oil leaking between the 2 faces will run out the bottom of the ra “nut” and down the “neck” of the ra drive. So I used the reliable aviation gasket sealer putting a light coat on the 2 faces and enough inside the “nut” to have the sealer ooze out the bottom when tightened to the adapter. Yes they will be somewhat “glued” together. Wiped off the excess and dissembled it make sure none of the sealer got into the drive. I’m hoping this works as I haven’t been able to test drive to find out.
Back on the road and the Speedo isn’t working, the cable isn’t turning. I have found there appears to be no fit between cable in right angle drive and part that protrudes from gearbox it just ‘flops’ on in any position which seems odd as I would expect the squares would need to line up and it be a snug fit. In between the gearbox has been rebuilt so don’t know if anything changed there. Any suggestions welcome
You appear to be missing the retaining clip to hold the angle drivetight in its position.
The speedometer angle drive is held in position on the drive in the gearbox by a ‘Y shaped metal clip. The ‘Y shaped clip is bolted to the gearbox by a 1/4’’ UNC bolt. You can just see the bolt hole on the side of the gearbox in your bottom photo.
Alan.
I have that, I took it off to examine and try and understand what is wrong