Diff Stiffening Bracket - Extra Strong Design
Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2011 1:15 am
I cant lay claim to this design, it was fabricated by the previous
blokes who owned my S2 elan. At that stage of it's life it
was raced all over the country side here in OZ.
Considering that the normal Diff stiffening brackets are simply
a piece of heavy gauge angle with a couple of bolt holes
drilled for the upper mount bolts. I note that some owners say
they can be a pain in the ass to assemble while removing/ installing the
Diff in the chassis, this design is neat because it becomes part of the Diff
and makes the installation a breeze.
As you will note, much of the strength comes from the front plate
which is secured by the four upper studs on the Diff housing, as
well as the way the bracket wraps alloy housing ears, the bracket has
been on the car before it came into my ownership in 1981.
During the refurbishment, a small amount of welding was required
on a weld seam that had cracked on the left side of the bracket, not
bad for being service for probably more than thirty years.
The Diff shown here is a 3.9, I also have a 3.55, and a 4.1, the mounting
flanges on all of the Diffs (Sourced from various Escorts) have been
modified to fit straight onto the elan prop shaft. the gearbox
ratios are of the ultra close variety, first gear is pretty tall when
running the 3.55.
If you like fabricating with sheet metal, you might like to make this
a project sometime, the measurements etc can be taken directly
from the Diff, but like all small sheet metal projects, it is best to
create cardboard template patterns first, and create your project
from that.
Have fun
Ceejay.
blokes who owned my S2 elan. At that stage of it's life it
was raced all over the country side here in OZ.
Considering that the normal Diff stiffening brackets are simply
a piece of heavy gauge angle with a couple of bolt holes
drilled for the upper mount bolts. I note that some owners say
they can be a pain in the ass to assemble while removing/ installing the
Diff in the chassis, this design is neat because it becomes part of the Diff
and makes the installation a breeze.
As you will note, much of the strength comes from the front plate
which is secured by the four upper studs on the Diff housing, as
well as the way the bracket wraps alloy housing ears, the bracket has
been on the car before it came into my ownership in 1981.
During the refurbishment, a small amount of welding was required
on a weld seam that had cracked on the left side of the bracket, not
bad for being service for probably more than thirty years.
The Diff shown here is a 3.9, I also have a 3.55, and a 4.1, the mounting
flanges on all of the Diffs (Sourced from various Escorts) have been
modified to fit straight onto the elan prop shaft. the gearbox
ratios are of the ultra close variety, first gear is pretty tall when
running the 3.55.
If you like fabricating with sheet metal, you might like to make this
a project sometime, the measurements etc can be taken directly
from the Diff, but like all small sheet metal projects, it is best to
create cardboard template patterns first, and create your project
from that.
Have fun
Ceejay.