My Quaife/ACT project grows more expensive by the day. I had to order bearings from the Nissan dealer today (cause nobody else carries "differential carrier bearings" or the speedometer gear) to repair the damage done by my preload being misadjusted. The 2 bearings and speedometer gear cost $120!! So if you're planning to do the Quaife, set aside a few hundred dollars more for parts, tools and/or labor. It is NOT a cheap project, particularly if you find out other stuff is broken like I did (motor mounts, bearings). If you're not doing the labor yourself, prepare to pay a pretty penny. Now, I must wait until these bearings arrive, install them in the case and the differential, put the case together, do precise measurements with a dial gauge, take it apart again, order the appropriate shims, install the shims, resassemble transmission, then put the car back together again.

On a side note, my ACT clutch arrived today as well. Came with pilot bearing, throw out/release bearing, alignment tool, street modified disc, pressure plate and best of all two large yellow ACT bumper stickers. Its got a yellow as ***** pressure plate. I'm also glad I'm replacing my T/O bearing cause the one on the car now sounds all raggedy when I spin it by hand. I still gotta yank the clutch from my car and then get the flywheel lightened/machined/balanced- providing that it isnt damaged.

For those of you with manual transmissions- I would recommend checking your transmission fluid. Check especially for a silvery look, as this will indicate metal. Or even dip a strong magnet in the drained oil and see what collects. There is a "cleaner" magnet at the bottom of the case that will attract most the metal. I also recommend you inspect the freeplay of the CV shafts, as well as checking for leaks. I'm beginning to suspect that my gear position sensor might have only been part of the problem when it came to my tranny leak. If your car exhibits signs of freeplay and metal within the oil, it is a good chance your bearings are toast or on their way.

P.P.S. There is no flame material in this post whatsoever as I tried making it purely informative. Hopefully this time my post wont be locked/deleted.

 

never been so confused in one sitting.. good luck!

 

Your ***** are yellow?

 

mzmtg = funny

 

so how exactly is your final product going to be better than just buying a used $500-$700 canadian LSD tranny

 

nm

 

It will never wear out, the VLSD will eventually wear out. The quaife has a trasferable lifetime warenty. Good luck finding a VLSD trans, they are in short supply. The quaife will work with your non VLSD drive axles, so you dont need to buy a new passanger side drive axle.

I looked for a VLSD but could not find one, so I said what the hell and went for it.

 

Yeppers, I ordered mine yesterday too, $130 at my dealer.

Has stripping the trans down to the diff been tough. Any special tools needed so far? Will it be easy to put all the parts back on, or the remember exactly how it went together?

 

Well I am asian so.....

 

Well first the differential has a gear driven design. This is different from the "viscous" style as it will never wear out. http://www.quaifeamerica.com/differentials/diffs.htm for more information on this style design. Second, it has a lifetime transferrable warranty, even if raced! Third, no need to also replace CV's and hubs. Forth, its hard enough finding a 5 speed transmission let alone one of these VLSD transmissions.

 

Not only that but the need to have the factory service manual, more gear oil, cost of buying the dial guauge preciso-meter. Also need a torque wrench, and a center punch to punch in the outer bearing races into the case. Air tools help in removing the "final gear" from the differential. You also need loctite (to seal in the final gear), sealant (and since my gear position switch was leakin i'm gonna clean i'm gonna RTV the thing in this time), alot of degreaser as well as a new input shaft seal and output shaft seals. While in there, might as well change the clutch and check the motor mounts too. Maybe even install a short throw shift.

So far I've run into the usual stuck bolts. The one that got me was you gotta remove the "idler reverse shaft". I had to use a long screwdriver and wedge it thru the opposite side and hammer it out.

I guess if you were to reuse the bearings from the old differential you'd need a bearing puller. I am going to change both of them.

Regarding dissassembly and reassembly, since nothing in my main and input shafts were screwed, they do not need to come apart, but I will clean and degrease them. There arent too many parts, except for the reverse parts and the little "check *****" that crop up here and there so its not too bad.

 

How goes the project?

 

Is there a LSD faq out there? I'm trying to figure out how to get something together for my '91. I've been looking but can't find a 92-94 trans. Can a later model VLSD diff alone be used? + maybe axles, etc? How about a whole newer Canadian trans?

thanks,

Mike