Anything and everything Vitesse.

Rear axle, brakes, wheels and tyres.

After 50 miles on the road after a 20 year layup i had a rotating mechanical noise from the rear axle area,it turned out to be the drive flange on the offside of the diff flapping around as if the bearing has collapsed.I recently acquired a 3.63 that i was going to fit anyway,the guy i bought it from loosened the pinion nut so i could replace the seal which was leaking,now i've been told this is the collapsible spacer type and cannot be just tightened up,i was hoping to go to Silverstone this Saturday in it but thats looking unlikely now,what do i need to do with pinion nut to get it right?
Steve

I'm not a diff expert (I know when to leave well alone!) but for what it's worth.
I THINK the spit 1500 diffs had the collapsible spacer, and that these can be identified by a nyloc nut retaining the input flange. To set the correct pinion bearing preload, I think you were supposed to fit a new collapsible spacer and tighten the nut (presumably a new nyloc!) to a given torque. While it might JUST be feasible to retighten to that given torque and you MIGHT get something similar to the original preload (or just a tad more to make up for wear over the years), quite frankly I would not risk it!
You may find that you can do a straight swap of the diff output shafts from the 3.63 diff to the 3.89 diff (I presume you are talking 2 litre Vitesse, not 1600?) to keep you on the road, although I would be suspicious of what else may be on the point of failing on that diff that sounds as if it might have started to rust inside during the lay-up. That said, what have you to lose? You can swap the diff output shafts with the diff still in the car.

A bit late now but you may have got away with retightening if the nut and shaft were marked before being undone so you can tighten to exactly the same point, the original factory torque figure would take into account the collapse of the spacer, if you apply this torque you could over tighten and have excess pre load on the pinion bearings,simplest way to measure the actual preload is string round the coupling and pull it with a small spring balance from the chemists. but the figures are normally without the diff case being fitted,,, so not easy,
or you can can gauge/feel the preload on the pinion if carefully rotated by hand ( especially just enough to use the crownwheel backlash ) run the nut down till it seats then give a firm nip, you cant affect the mounting distance but to tight wrecks bearing
too loose wrecks teeth.....on overrun....you can only try happy motoring Peter

I decided to let Dave at Canleys have a look,it turns out the 3.63 i have is scrap due to a worn out gear set,the original diff that came out of my car turns out to be a 3.27 which is even more knackered,we cant even use the rear case as that is shot aswell.I am going to buy a recon unit.
Cheers
Steve

isnt it traditional that these little cars start with a small problem that always needs deep pockets to resovle them. then do it twice
peter

Section : Rear Axle

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