Nice quick job and one which is best done before the fuel tank and rear panel are fitted.
The diff requires approx 0.9ltr of oil (source: Haynes Sierra Manual)
Oil grade used:
Semi Synthetic gear and Diff oil SAE 75/90 courtesy of Halfords (other makes and brands available!)
Once filled tightened the fill nut to 35nm - checked for obvious leaks - so far so good!
So a relaxing trip to Iceland provided a nice break from the stresses of work and also continued progress on the car,but good news - labour has been arranged following a last minute call from my Brother in Law and Nephew.
Suitably fed and watered with bacon rolls, crisps and tea we set too and commenced what I consider to be a defining moment of the build. Its a bit irrational really but somehow seeing the differential fitted is a landmark in the build as finally you are seeing something mechanical installed into the chassis plus it was one of the first acquisitions late last year.
Fitting kit was provided courtesy of GBS and the first puzzlement was the two 70mm hex bolts...utterly perplexed what they are for, clearly too long for the front of the diff, too short for top and bottom, a post on the GBS forum revealed nothing...am I missing something fundamental?
Thankfully I had the existing front bolts for the diff when I acquired it, so I sourced some of similar size and elected to ignore the 70mm hex bolts..anyone who has a clue what they are for please let me know!
Simple process (on paper):
- Get some heavy labour in!
- lift into position
- Insert bottom long bolt in first through slotted hole in chassis
- Insert top long bolt in
- insert front two bolts with spring washers
- torque up
The lifting in is the awkward and cumbersome bit, and its with grateful thanks to Neil and Alex we managed to get the diff into position with Neil on his back effectively bench pressing it in from underneath and into position whilst me and Alex gave encouragement from above! (probably a more dramatic way of getting it into position, but it provided a good money shot if nothing else!)
Next we inserted the two long bolts in top and bottom centralising the differential in its position. Spacers then need to be put in between the differential and chassis frame. Having read various blogs on this installation it is apparent the spacers need trimming down to fit and mine were no different so we spent quite a while getting the spacers to a nice snug fit through a combination of filing and bench grinding mm off each one, lining up to the gap, further filing etc remembering all the while to note which one went where - top, bottom, left, right.
Once this was done, we removed the bolts re-inserting with the spacers and washers and that was top and bottom done, attention turns to the front...
this is where progress slowed... the front holes needed opening up slightly to take the bolts cleanly through into the diff, so out with the diff, open up hole, diff back in, check for fitment. Still not right. Out with the diff, open up hole, in goes diff check for fitment...well i think you get the gist of where this is going. Fair to say this took a while to resolve but eventually we got a clean fit of all the screws and it was successfully in situ.
the top and bottom bolts were torqued up to 80nm whilst the front two stayed loose pending threadlock (to be bought) being applied before final torquing to 50nm.
With grateful thanks to Neil and Alex, without whom this would not have been achieved.
a landmark day in the build!
Weather has been a bit nippy recently to be spending long amounts of time in the garage during the evening (must get some heating sorted out...), so took the opportunity to continue the refurb of the differential conscious it is going to need fitting into the chassis in the not too distant future.
A couple of evenings work in the kitchen with some silver Hammerite paint and the outside of the differential is looking a lot better than when I first sourced it last year.
Special thanks to Sue for the "loan" of the table!
Took the opportunity to order the differential fitting kit from GBS which although I have the original bolts which came with the differential some fresh ones won't go amiss plus I get the necessary spacers with the kit to centralise it in the chassis, come fitting.
Just need to source a ready volunteer to help manhandle the unit into the chassis, need to put some thought into method and possibly further support to the chassis as its not exactly light in weight
So approaching just over one month to go before the chassis arrives, felt I should turn my attention to the garage and have a tidy an prepare some space.
Having access to a double garage has its benefits as I have not had to barter, negotiate space with my wife's car so the right hand side is becoming the workshop for the zero when it arrives.
A new workbench has been ordered and fits nicely along the side of the wall plus cadging some old shelving from my in-laws and a trip to Ikea has generated some more shelving space.
Looking at the space I think /hope there is enough room come December....time will tell on that one!
Also took the time to start and clean up the rear diff as that will be one of the first fits on the chassis when it arrives.
I drained the oil from the diff and started to attack the casing,plenty of deagreaser and toothbrush work on the casing and its starting to come back to life. Intention is to get some silver smoothrite applied and renew the seals in readiness for fitment.
Managed to secure the initial donor parts for the build over the weekend. A short trip up the M6 across to Accrington and £200 later I have acquired:
- 3.92 differential
- Slot in drive shafts
- Steering column
- Intermediate Shaft to inner Column
Also included were the rear drum brakes and prop shaft which are not likely to be used so hopefully I can move these on at a later date.
items came off a 1991 Sierra and whilst collecting the parts could not help but notice the seller had a lovely Haynes Roadster so we ended up having a good chat about kit cars!
So some cleaning up, hammerite painting and general prep work to do prior to installation but pleased to have secured these parts.
