It is at this point I will apologise for not posting anything last week, that was due to the "revenge of the diff". I, somewhat foolishly, went in with the "how hard can it be" attitude, and it turned out very. After realising my predicament with the front end, most of last Sunday was spent trying to install the diff. In summary there were many failed attempts, due to the limited jack travel and the awkward nature of the mass of the diff and the space you have to manoeuvre.
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| Removed boot floor and diff handing in place from the engine hoist |
By the end of play Sunday I had a new plan. I removed the boot floor (wooden section only - 4 screws) and used an engine crane to lift the diff up through the boot floor. This was a much better plan! With a busy week the diff just hung in place throughout the week while I did some other small jobs, like drilling and installing the indicators to the cycle wings.
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| Nice neat job - drilled the holes progressively (i.e. 4mm, 7mm then 12mm) then filed out for a good finish |
This weekend the diff was installed, quite swiftly, when done with two people. One to man the engine crane and another underneath the diff to manoeuvre it into position. Once it was in position it was pinned through the upper bolt holes using a screwdriver and a short metal tube. the lower bolts were ten fairly simply installed allowing the top bolt to go in. For the top bolt, my tips would be to leave one of the temporary pins in, use lots of grease and do not be afraid to beat it with a hammer until the bolt pushes the pin out of the other end.
Spacing the diff is something I am still confused by. I am unsure what I am meant to be measuring to, in order to centre the diff. If i measure to the edge of the car or the ARB brackets it suggests I am nearly 3cm out and it will not go any further in that direction. Conversely it already looks like the propshaft is angled slightly in that direction, suggesting I need to align it back the other way... Another issue was the washers to be used as spacers, I scoured the supplied fastener pack and found what I thought it must be but they did not fit over the lower bolts, as I decided I only needed two, I filed them out to fit.
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| Original (LEFT), filed out to fit (RIGHT) |
Getting the BMW hubs out of the diff is an interesting job. It feels as though you are being very destructive and requires a remarkable amount of force. Putting a screwdriver in and prising the hub off little by little (top then bottom) is a way to do it, but don't be afraid to use some serious force as nearly all the components your levering tool will come into contact with are to be discarded.
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| Removed hub, quite a large bit of waste. Note the groove in the splined shaft, I thought it may be circlip-ed in place, hence why it is a brute to get out |
It was fairly simple to fit the RHS driveshaft to the diff once the hits had been removed, but as I write this the LHS is still and unresolved mystery. We tried filing out the ends of the splines as they still had some metal burrs on them and adding a taper to the end of the shaft to try and help it fit, but to no avail - a question for Derek.
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| LH driveshaft (LEFT) and RH driveshaft (RIGHT), has the left one not finished manufacture? (no taper etc?) |
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| RH brake line and calliper, brake line is supposed to terminate in the hole currently filled by a red bung |
Hopefully, I will have some uprights next week and can get the front of the car finished. In the meantime here are some diff install tips:
- If you are going to use a jack to lift the diff, ensure it has enough travel.
- Again, if a jack is to be used, consider the lifting feature on the jack and how it will interact with the diff to make sure it lifts in a stable manner
- My recommendation would be to remove the boot floor as it gives you more visibility
- With the boot floor removed, it is better to use an engine crane to lift the diff into place; it is a much more stable way of lifting.
- DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE - this is a two man job.
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