Differential

[alaric]

Hi all. I'm in need of help again I'm afraid - quite a busy stage in the restoration / rebuild... good fun though (at least that's what I'm telling myself).

Has anyone else found it difficult to remove the diff from the chassis? The bushes came out easily enough, but I was there for ages struggling with the diff - just wouldn't come out. I eventually resorted to brute force, and prised it out.

I'm inspecting the diff now. I'm not sure how to estimate what work should be carried out on it, if any. I'd rather leave it alone for the moment as it's not leaking. Anyone know what the key signs are? Am I better off just waiting and seeing if it's noisy?

I'm fitting Sue Miller's CV driveshafts also. The flanges on the diff and hubs have pins in the centre, which I will need to remove. I presume this is normal as part of this conversion.

All the best.

Sean.

[elansprint71]

Sean,
The diff can be a bugger to get out the first time you do it, it only comes out the left side of the car and if there is a "Sprint" brace fitted you should remove this first (it doesn't mention that in the book!)/ Also leave the brace off until after you have got the diff back into the chassis.
My advice would be if it's not leaking, leave it alone. If it is noisy, you will find a much easier job to remove it the second time around! Usually the cause of noise is because it is leaking.

I have Susan's drive shafts but do not have those pins, I believe that you will have to cut them off (add more lightness)

Pete

[type26owner]

Sean is correct but if it's been sitting unused for like 5 years or longer then the seals deteriorate and the sealing surfaces tend to get rusty. In that case it will develop a leak in few hundred miles. Pulling it back out is not all that hard once you've done it once. I'd say give it a shot and hope for the best. Fresh seals and seal surfaces last at least 100k miles typically.

[alaric]

Thanks for the advice chaps.

I did indeed take off the sprint brace before removing the diff. I think the chassis plate under the diff (for want of a better name) has been used as the jacking point, and has deflected by a mm or so - enough to make it a tight squeeze even with the brace removed.

I'm off to attack the driveshaft pins with my Dremel.

The seals on the output shafts do look rather a mess, but I'll follow the advice and leave well alone for now - there are lots of other things to sort out at the moment.

All the best.

Sean.

[elansprint71]

Sean,
If you are not in a hurry to re-fit the diff, make sure there is oil to the correct level in it and then wedge some bits of wood under it to tilt it so that the seal is covered in oil all the way round, this will let you know if they are leak-proof. Do each of the three seals in turn, but when you do the one on the right output shaft don't tip the diff too much or oil will come out via the little breather hole- it's surprising how much can come out of there overnight!

As you suspect, jacking the chassis at that point will have made extraction difficult.

Pete.

[alaric]

Ah, so the little breather hole will be why oil came out while I was working on the driveshaft centre pins last night - I must admit I hadn't noticed the hole.

I did check the oil level before moving it and it seems to be spot on.

I hope to get it back in the chassis today, with the new driveshafts fitted, so that I can offer up the engine and gearbox.

Those tie bars strike me as a bit underengineered. I have new bushes, but the metal washers from the originals seem to have welded themselves into the housing, and there's slight elongation of one of holes. I can't see the new bushes seating properly without some work to the housing. I'm sure an insert would help here.

All the best.

Sean.