These photos show the installation
of a Dana 36 Aluminum differential from a late 90's Corvette. The rear
cover contains the mounting bracket which had to be shortened several inches to mate with
the uprights of the Spitfire frame. The gears are 3.54:1 which is a pretty good
match with the Honda S2000 engine and 6-speed gearbox set on 13" wheels and 20 inch
tall tires. (It also works well with the 15" wheels and low profile
tires installed after the conversion to street trim) To mount the differential, the rear of the frame was removed and
reinforced using 1 inch square thick wall tubing. Koni 8212-1416 double adjustable
shocks using B3 valving. The springs are 9" long x 2.25" diameter
Hypercoils with a rate of 300 pounds. The interior of the car had to be
modified to add space for the larger diff. An access panel was installed for easy
access to the top of the diff and handbrake cable routing.
The addition of an upper control arm was necessary to support the coil-over shocks
and eliminate the transverse rear spring.
The axle shafts were constructed using Spicer slipyokes normally used as output
yokes on automatic transmissions. Custom shafts were constructed by Moser
Engineering to slide into the slipyokes and into Porsche 930 CV-Joints on the outboard
side.
The GT6 rotoflex uprights were modified to separate the bearings by an additional
inch and use the same bearing on the inner side as the outer. The two bearings are
separated by a solid spacer which sets the preload no matter how much torque is applied to
the securing nut. The shaft itself was custom manufactured as one piece that
installs from the outside and is secured using a VW Bus axle nut on the inside.
Further inboard, the shaft is splined to accommodate the CV cup which attaches to the
Porsche 930 CV-Joint.
The lower control arms are adjustable aluminum with Hiem joints on the ends.
These are provided by Clive Averill but were modified for this application by shortening
the rear one about 1/2 inch.
Since the inside of the wheel wells were modified to clear the additional hardware,
aluminum covers were fabricated to cover it inside the boot.
With the addition of the much stiffer rear suspension, a 1" front swaybar was
added in place of the 5/8" one previously used. |