This week, we upgraded CiCi’s Iris Blue Bugeye (here from Incline Village, Nevada) with a fresh 1275 engine and ribbed-case transmission. While checking over the car, we found the tell-tale sign that her sending unit gasket had failed.

Can you see the clue in the photo below?

Look closely and you’ll see some fine lines along the bottom of the tank. We didn’t fill the tank so we had no gas smell to reveal the presence of fuel sitting in the sender well, (nor did we want to fill the tank incase we would immediately have to drain it for repair). But these fine lines gave us enough of a clue to dig further.

On Cici’s Bugeye whilst reinstalling the engine, we noticed that the universal joint on the back of the driveshaft was clearly not up to speed. Take a look at the video above; you can see that it is “notchy,” perhaps because one of the u-joint end caps is missing one of its rollers. Maybe the last installer knocked one of the needle bearings out of position and it’s been like that ever since? Regardless, clearly a new U-joint was needed, and now Cici is back in business.

Any time the drive shaft comes out, make sure you check your u-joints! We sell them in our catalog if you need a spare! (Buy yours here!)