Alternative Rear Axle-Differential?

[loose_electron]

Was thinking of doing a different rear axle and differential setup. My seals leak a little and at some point will need to either rebuild or replace.

Are there any ready substitutes? I saw a few postings on one of the Tiger sites about a custom creation, but it was not a very elegant solution.

Jerry

 

[DanR]

Jerry, What rear do you now run?

DanR

 

[loose_electron]

Jerry, What rear do you now run?

DanR

1963 Series 2 factory standard.

 

[260Alpine]

Jerry what engine do you have, V6? The MGB rear is pretty close in size. V8 guys use a Jeep Dana 44. Some MG guys run narrowed Ford Ranger, Chevy S10 or Toyota 2WD pickup rears, all 7.5 ring gear.

 

[Toyanvil]

I will be running a 1985 Mazda RX7 rear-axle, all most done. I will gain disc brakes and posi. I am now running a Datsun B210, it was almost a bolt in back in 1979.

 

[DanR]

My Commodore Blue V6 has the original SV rear, but I changed the wires to 4 bolt hubs.

Lots of pros & cons.

I'd like to have the rear disc added.

DanR

 

[bulldurham]

Back in the day I ran a stock MGB rear {3.90}. The stock Alpine is 3.899.
The B set up will require you to cut the drive shaft and modify the E brake cable a little. Also the B has 14" rear wheel and the bolt pattern is different. If you run
wires they will be 14's but all your wheels will look alike. Mine was a Series II w/ Armstrongs so had to weld a bracket to attach the bottom end.
Did well for a few years. Oh yea, the rear did not whine.

 

[PROCRAFT]

Rear Axle

We're using a Ford 8.8 (probably a bit large for most of the people) 3.73 LSD
11 " Discs and there cheap! we use coil overs on a 5 Link suspension we invented.

 

[DanR]

How about some PIC's ? PROCRAFT

 

[loose_electron]

Jerry what engine do you have, V6? The MGB rear is pretty close in size. V8 guys use a Jeep Dana 44. Some MG guys run narrowed Ford Ranger, Chevy S10 or Toyota 2WD pickup rears, all 7.5 ring gear.

It is the 2.8L V6 setup. Before I would drop an MG rear end in I would want to consider something a little more modern. However, modifying a rear axle to make it narrower sounds like a huge PITA of machine work to get right. My shop space capabilities are a bit limited.

 

[260Alpine]

Jerry, The 67-80 MGB Salisbury rear is pretty strong and used a lot with V6 and Rover V8 in the MGB. Easy to find cheap also. It was originally a small truck axle in Britain. Much stronger than the earlier banjo type which is similar to the Alpine. There is a rear disc conversion kit from Scarebird. The wire wheel axle is around 2" narrower than the steel wheel version. Just right for adapters for 4.5 (MGB) to 4.25 Alpine wheel pattern. I would replace the fiber side gear thrust washers with metal. There are two posi's available Quaiffe Torsen type and Blitz Speed clutch type. After market gears are available in 3.07, 3.31 in addition to stock 3.91. I've narrowed a few 83-92 Ford Ranger 7.5 axles by shortening the long side the same as the short side and using another short axle. A lot of choices there for ratios and posi's. Do a search on the Mgexperience site engine swap forum or PM me for more info. The whine is probably pinion/excess back lash.

 

[260Alpine]

Here is a 7.5 Ford with alloy axles 30% stronger than stock. Girdle type rear cover, 3.45 gears with Tru-Trac Torsen type Posi. Solid pinion spacer instead of crush sleeve. Mustang disk brakes. Small 9" bearings to eliminate C clips. 52" wide. Living happily behind a 300 Buick Stroker V8. 350 HP and 400 ft lbs Torque.

 

[loose_electron]

Here is a 7.5 Ford with alloy axles 30% stronger than stock. Girdle type rear cover, 3.45 gears with Tru-Trac Torsen type Posi. Solid pinion spacer instead of crush sleeve. Mustang disk brakes. Small 9" bearings to eliminate C clips. 52" wide. Living happily behind a 300 Buick Stroker V8. 350 HP and 400 ft lbs Torque.

Nice! Getting rid of the rear drums and going disc would be preferred as well. Right now the only problems I got with the present setup is that the shaft seals are leaking a bit, and getting a small bit of gear oil out near the rear brakes. For the moment I can live with that.

However, my usual strategy is to gather the knowledge up, figure it out and get the parts well before the project starts. So on this issue I am in gathering knowledge stage.

As well, the car I have has wire wheels, and changing out the splined hubs and going to 4 lug alloy wheels is also on the low priority list. Would probably do all 4 wheels the same time I changed out the rear axle.