Oliver, Got it.. I thought you said in an earlier post about this either in this thread or another that you didn't want to spend a 100.00 bucks to shorten it. I understand the what you are going thru. I was more trying to be funny vs an !ss... This seems to be a lot of work though to get to your final in point of checking your motor and tranny, Especially since it sounds like your new diff is going to be on your door step soon.. Good thing is now with the holes in the rear compartment you will be able to install the new diff with NO problem... Keep up the hard work man...Dave

 

Cant you get those bolts without cutting the fiberglass? I started removing those before I found out the whole crossmember is supposed to come off.

 

What is the weight of the differential?

 

A lot when wrestling it by yourself

 

The weight isn't really that bad... My guess would be about 60 - 70 lbs (with fluid inside)..

 

105 lbs w/the cover & side yokes

 

Cool!

Did you just eyeball the hole location? If I tried that I'd be refiberglassing in a floor!

 

I'm only going to cover the holes with screwed on sheet aluminum so that they'll be easily removable when changing the rear.. I might have to change the rear again at one point...

 

The crossmember comes right down very easily with a large breaker-bar especially if it has removed recently. If the crossmember has never been down, it does take some patience, LOTA "liquid wrench", & some muscle. But it will come down. Unless you have a roadrace car (like redvetracr) who is always changing out rears according to the track he racing that day, do not drill the holes.

 

I am sure you will !!!!

 

I'm still in shock..........why not try to do something in a clean way isntad of just going blasting holes in the floor (and it looks like your aim was off w/ the hole on the right) As good as your car looks on the outside....as shocked am I to see pics of total bubbaisms, rubber hoses slipped over brake lines on the pressure hoses for the transmission (cooling), fuel filters near headers, an electric fuel pump geld in place by perforated strips, grime & oil everywhere. I really don't want to bust your chops but man...it's a sight for sore eyes if you ask me. Do you only care about running it on the track or does trying to do a nice job and having a clean ride also enter the equation. I've never seen a bubbafied race car win a race, the cleanaest cars with the most attention to detail are usually the ones that win.

Clearly you want to run some quick times and play with the other quick guys, buy some quality tools and pay attention to detail and do a meticulous job.....


I could go on...and on...but I won't...

 

I tried to get the crossmember off with no success... It's definetely easier to pull the differential with the holes.
Unless a car is all original, I don't see a reason not to cut the holes. A sheet aluminum cover is easily made and it'll be covered by carpet anyways... So why worry about something that you can't see?

It was very easy to re-install the differential too.. It balances perfectly on my jack and can be easily lined up with the holes in the crossmember...

 

When you do not have the proper tools there are always alternatives.

 

But you KNOW it's there...a big ugly hole...no 4 uglly holes counting the other ones. You're gonna use a sheet alu plate over it, so why not cut the plate in a nice shape and then trim the hole to resemble the contour. Then use some nut plates, rivet them into the glass and you can use little screws for the plate. Expenses, a couple of bucks for the nut plates & the little screws, for the rest all it takes is a little time, maybe 1/2 an hour over what it would take just to slap a plate ove it and be done with it.

If you want to be able to jack up the diff even better, use studs and guide the studs through the bolt holes, no chance of it dropping on the floor and easy access to the nuts on the top.

I spent a lot of time to get the grimey goo off the fiberglass floors on the inside (GM put it on there), takes a lot of effort but saves a few pounds and looks so much cleaner. I also went through great lengths to repair my cracked firewall so it's smooth, it may not go any faster because of it but I sure as hell won't have to be ashamed when someone says what's that big ole ugly hole there.

 

and those would be??

 

Obviously what ever you have handy at the moment.........
Oliver, get it done and get down here for the next race.
Bob

 

People are different.. Some people care about such details and others don't.. I don't care about anything that I can't see or won't affect performance or safety.. When it comes to performance and safety - I try to be very precise in what I'm doing, but when it comes to things that won't have any effect on safety and/or performance and things that you can't actually see.. I don't really care how they are done as long as it's functional... The only thing that I care is to be safe and fast.

I rather have a car that is holding up to the engine's power on big slicks without blowing up things than having a car where everything is done nicely and have unbelievable dyno numbers, but the first time you'd actually race it on slicks, it would blow up half of the car because it can't take the power as soon as you apply traction..
I don't want to show off how nicely things are done on the car.. I rather show a time slip from the track. People have different priorities and my attention to cosmetic details is very little but my attention to peformance and safety is very high..

I personally have never cared what other people think about the way that I'm doing things.. I do everything just for myself and not to please others... I'm not trying to take shots at others.. I just want to make clear that people are different and have different priorities.

 

Thats what I was trying to say before. All it would have took was a little effort and it would have popped off.

 

Bob, unfortunately it doesn't depend on me.. The car is ready to go except for the differential, axle kit and driveshaft...

Tom's Differential is taking forever to finish my rear end

 

I tried that for 3 hours to get it off and finally gave up...
Another advantage of just dropping the differential is that it's lighter without the crossmember on top of it...
Install is also more difficult with the crossmember in place...
I don't have a long breaker bar or any other thing that I could use to get it off.. My method worked great without having to use a breaker bar..