There is a low cost, reversible alternative to welding your differential.
It is something the drag racers have done for years. By welding in some
of the teeth on the spider gears so they no longer rotate you get a
locked unit. Want to unlock it? Just replace the spider gears. This way
you can find out if you like it locked or not. It's cheap too., and
doesn't destroy a part that is becoming rarer.
Just a thought,
Bill
On Fri, 20 Jul 2001 14:04:21 -0500 "Rocky Entriken" <rocky@tri.net>
writes:
> FWIW -- when I finally "used up" my old No-Spin in the Spitfire, and
> no
> other limited slip readily available at the time, we welded one up.
> I'm fine
> with it.
>
> I race it GP, autocross it DP. It's been that way several years now.
> I quit
> looking for limited slips.
>
> Biggest "problem" is turning the car when pushing it.
>
> No big deal when driving it under power, just a little more
> raap-raap on the
> throttle and slipping the clutch to get it to make a tight turn in
> the
> paddock (outta my way!).
>
> On course/on track, it works great. No, I do not see any real
> handling
> deficiency when autocrossing. The speeds are not "lower" enough to
> matter.
> "Lower" IMHO it is in the minus-15 mph range that it is a problem
> and we
> don't autox down there any more these days. OTOH, it puts the power
> down to
> both wheels 'stead of just the inside one (with unmodified) or
> mostly the
> outside one (with lim slip).
>
> I've broken one inner axle on the Spitfire since I put in the welded
> diff.
> And that was the biggest problem I encountered. First of all,
> instead of
> just driving the car on the one wheel I had left that got power
> (which I've
> done many times with limited slip, even road racing), now it still
> insisted
> on driving both axles which meant it really chewed up the bearing
> and all in
> the broken stub axle and ended my race. And then, unlike the
> lim-slip days
> when I could pop out the broken-off stub with a magnet, or at worst
> open the
> other side and drive it through with a drift, now there was NO WAY
> because
> it was solid through there. An inner axle change I've often done
> before in
> about an hour took me 12 hours (completely dismantled the rear end
> in the
> paddock -- but I raced the next day!). As a result, next time I had
> the
> thing out, I took it to a machine shop and had them drill a hole
> through the
> weld that I could get my drift through.
>
> IMHO, go ahead and weld the sucker, but drill an access hole through
> it.
>
> --Rocky
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Matthew Wilder <mwilder@top.monad.net>
> To: fot@autox.team.net <fot@autox.team.net>
> Date: Friday, July 20, 2001 11:07 AM
> Subject: welded difs
>
>
> >Hi,
> >
> >So what's the opinion on welding the differential. I know atleast
> one
> >sprite autocrossing regionally has his welded. How does it affect
> handling?
> >I was thinking it might be kinda tough on the axles on my 4a live
> axle.
> >After reading some of the recent posts on the Detroit lockers it
> sounds
> like
> >it would be a better choice for Auto-x than the Quafe but welding
> it solid
> >would definitely keep the inside from spinning.
> >
> >Matthew Wilder
> >'67 TR4a E-prepared auto-xer
> >http://top.mcttelecom.com/~mwilder/
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