A long story and a question... No, after I saw the universal joints were fine I understood the problem and what probably happened. I'm fairly sure now that one of the small spider/sun pinion gears broke in half or just went to pieces. The free play-slop inbetween first and reverse and loud clunking made me first think a u-joint's bearings broke- but now I'm sure it's a pinion gear problem. When it happened I didn't hear any crunching of teeth. (just a loud bang) I loaded it on a trailer and brought it home that day- moving it slowly in first and reverse. Same when I brought it into the shop a few days ago- no crunching but lots of very loud clunking. So mabe all the broken bits has fallen into the bottom of the case if I'm lucky.
I pulled the car back out of the shop last week when I saw how unavailable diffs and internal parts are. I parked it back into it's storage building until I figure out what to do.
Yesterday I went out to a local British sports car repair shop/junkyard, and luckily(?) bought back two body shells ('71 and '72 GT6's) I had sold them two years ago. I had picked both cars really clean, and at that particular time figured I could get a complete rebuilt diff easy if needed. They were still listed as available then anyway.
So- now once again I have two used GT6 shells for parts. One of the two GT6's(the '72) I had drove 10 or 12 miles before parting it out about 20 years ago. Back then it was manly the engine/tranny I really wanted- but I remember the diff in it was nice and quiet. I'm hoping it will be a good donor now and not full of rust and wear. The other '71 GT6 I have no clue on the diff's condition, it's just "there". Never drove, and it also set for about 20 years after I picked it clean. Both cars have much lower miles on the diffs than the broken one, so that's one plus.
Right now I'm thinking I'll pull them all three apart this winter and try to build up one good one. I can take my time more then- and might get lucky finding more parts by then.
I can see replacing all the bearings/seals that are still available. The ring/pinion in one of the three will hopefully be useable- but I can buy new if not. (well, if available)
But the small spider/sun pinions and the bevel gears they run in- is there any hope for finding them new? Do they interchange with any other model you know of?
Thanks- Dan
Dan do you have it all apart & inspected?
If none of the broken bits got jammed in the ring and pinion and damaged it, it may be OK but 300k is a lot of miles on it.
A close inspection of the R&P gear teeth will tell a lot.
If the R&P is serviceable, it can be rebuilt, but it requires very precise setup and may be short service life due to the high mileage.
Glen
Well- no luck so far searching, and I learn yesterday there's nothing available from Rimmer either.
I wonder how practical and possible it is to repair what I have with used parts? From a junkyard or where ever I might can find them?
And does anyone know of another model/brand differential that can be made to work?
On my '72 GT6- A loud bang when making a right turn a couple weeks back... I'm thinking it's a universal joint bearing letting go at first, but after putting it up on jackstands this past week I see the problem is a broken spider gear in the differential. I can understand it too, having over 300K miles on it. It's the only part that hasn't been rebuilt or replaced since I bought the car in '75. So no complaints on the breakage- but a big groan because I already know finding a good replacement diff won't be easy.
As usual I'm open to any advice or suggestions. The only rebuilt ones I'm seeing listed online now are at Rimmer. I guess I could afford that, if there are no options here stateside?
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