HectoRX7

here is the deal, i have been given,, for free, a 1980 first gen with most of the gsl-se conversions, ie; motor, tranny, front hubs. The only problem is that the previous owner was unable to locate a GSL-SE LSD rear end,, so instead he installed the LSD diff. from a 85 SE. This is fine except I need to buy rims in 2 different bolt patterns and try to predict which tires i may get a flat on in order to carry a appropiate spare. In a perfect scenario i would find the gsl-se diff and swap it but i was just curious if only the axles could be swapped, this would save me the hassle of hauling and or shipping the entire diff and the labor in changing axles is less than that of swapping out the entire rear end. Are the axle shaft lenth,diameter,splines, bearings,etc. the same on the gsl-se as a 85SE with LSD? I apologise if this has been discussed but when I searched the only hits i found dealt with entire rear end swaps not just the axle shafts
Thanks
BTW here is her pic
http://home.earthlink.net/~hectord1/...willow/RX7.jpg

peejay

You can't put -SE axles in an '80 rearend. Not only that, but you can't put an -SE diff in an '80 rearend either, so you've been fed some BS somewhere along the way. Find out the true story first...

MAZMAN

You can put a 85(if thats a series 3) diff in a 80(series 1) car,but complete diff only.You cannot change axles,they have different splines and larger diameter(the series 3) into a S1 diff.
What i did is,put a complete series 3 diff in my series 1 car but had to redrill the holes on the axle to suite the wheels for that car,that is the only way i know of.
Any diff place will do that easy

HectoRX7

My car does have a complete LSD rear drivetrain from a 85 model year just not the gsl-se, from what i know the main differences being the gear ratio and the bolt pattern.
I knew that you could not swap interior parts between different model years and the gsle-se, only complete rear end drivetrain swaps.
so am i undestanding correctly,, The GSL-SE rear drivetrain parts were very special and specific only to that model and year with no other parts interchange? even from the same year? seems kinda pricey for mazda to retool for a set of parts only to be used on a single model and only a two year production run 84-85.

peejay

You should be able to swap GSL--SE axles in to the GSL rear (including backing plates and calipers and rotors).

The '85 diff won't work in an '80 rearend - the axle splines are different. It'll physically bolt in to the rear, but the axles are the wrong size, and you can't stuff '84-85 axles in a pre-84 rear.