So I finally got enough together to mount a wheel and wanted to share...
12-11-16, 02:37 PM
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So I finally got enough together to mount a wheel and wanted to share...
Sand blasted and powdercoated axle housing, rebuilt GSL lsd with a cryotreated housing and spider gear set, new Mazda 4.44 ring and pinion, all new Timken and SKF bearings and oil seals, custom axle shafts, and tii brake adapters (not pictured).
12-12-16, 03:37 PM
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Nice work!
I have been trying to source a GSL rear end for my 82 FB for a while now and I would like to dom much of the same that you have done. My car is going to stay 4x110 for now at least so I will reuse axles.
Were there any major snags along the way? I hope to rebuild it in my basement and will need help from a shop with a press when I need it.
I have been trying to source a GSL rear end for my 82 FB for a while now and I would like to dom much of the same that you have done. My car is going to stay 4x110 for now at least so I will reuse axles.
Were there any major snags along the way? I hope to rebuild it in my basement and will need help from a shop with a press when I need it.
12-12-16, 05:32 PM
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Not really any major snags with the build itself, I mostly had issues with vendor quality.
The first axle I had powdercoated the shop powdercoated the inside of the pinion housing....and left sand all over the interior of the housing. I got another one and used a much more reputable shop. Do not use shops that will powdercoat for less than $100, you get what you pay for, that old life lesson. Second shop I paid ~$250 and they masked off the important areas and did a quality job. The LSD rebuild was very strait forward with mazda parts. There is a good writeup on this forum done by steve84GS TII so I have to provide credit to him. The cryotreatment facility I think dropped my first 4.10 pinion gear and dented a tooth. I think it can be filed and used, but it was an excuse to buy the 4.44.
Axle shafts by Moser engineering, vendor quailty was excellent. I shipped them a stock axle with a Tii brake rotor and asked for a re-production axle which will mount the supplied brake rotor. All my bearings, spacers, retainers, seals, and splines fit perfect, and the axle slipped in easily with all FB parts (minus the brake rotor of course).
I bought a Tii brake adapter kit that was originally supplied by Re-Speed and then taken over by another guy who occasionally offers them for sale on Ebay. The quality was OK to so-so, it works, but spacers need made from washers to get the caliper centered just right, and the E-brake adapter I think I will have re-made custom because I don't like the limited engagement I get.
When I installed the used 4.10 Pinion gear with a new crush tube, I got a so-so result, the pinion nut needed to be torqued too much in my opinion and my drag was not terribly consistent. With my brand new 4.44 pinion and another new crush tube, the drag was perfect with the pinion nut torqued to the middle of the specification. New bearings were used in both cases.
Lastly, I bought a 7-8" micrometer to measure the ring gear pre-loading. (see the onilne writeup or the service manual about this). I measured a 30 year old GSL unit and found the dimensions exactly in the spec. I then loosened the adjuster rings and found them just about finger tight. The online writeup suggests that making a small tool for tightening the ring gear adjusters and using the good-n-tight method was good. I used that method with New bearings as they should wear in from new and loosen up from there. I did not go buck wild with tightening them, but they measured ~7.31 not tightened at all, and I tightened to ~7.33". This was about 1/2 the force I could have used by hand on this 12" tool. The spec is 7.3004 - 7.3033. The stock GSL unit which was original measured 7.3032, but that had no pre-load to speak of it seemed. I'm banking on if other folks take a 12" tool tightly and don't see failures, I should be fine. I also saw no appreciable increase in measured pre-load using a beam torque wrench on the pinion nut.
I'll definitely share if I get a part failure so others won't make the same mistake. It's been tough finding good technical detail on some of this stuff.
I also just re-read your comment on using a shop press. I used presses at my friends for a while before buying a harbor freight 20 ton. I am glad I did because it is fun to use and also crush random objects for amusement. The other good tools to use are a set of punches to knock out the old bearing races, and the harbor freight aluminum seal/bearing race driver kit. That was the cheap stuff. The other things you need shouldn't be cheaped on such as torque wrenches, both bending beam for measuring pinion pre-load, and whatever you preference is for torquing pinion nuts/ring gear bolts, as well as micrometers. I bought a set that spanned 0-3", a 3-4", and a 7-8". The 7-8" I learned something I think, and I've shared my learnings here, but I did not use it to meet the 'spec'.
The first axle I had powdercoated the shop powdercoated the inside of the pinion housing....and left sand all over the interior of the housing. I got another one and used a much more reputable shop. Do not use shops that will powdercoat for less than $100, you get what you pay for, that old life lesson. Second shop I paid ~$250 and they masked off the important areas and did a quality job. The LSD rebuild was very strait forward with mazda parts. There is a good writeup on this forum done by steve84GS TII so I have to provide credit to him. The cryotreatment facility I think dropped my first 4.10 pinion gear and dented a tooth. I think it can be filed and used, but it was an excuse to buy the 4.44.
Axle shafts by Moser engineering, vendor quailty was excellent. I shipped them a stock axle with a Tii brake rotor and asked for a re-production axle which will mount the supplied brake rotor. All my bearings, spacers, retainers, seals, and splines fit perfect, and the axle slipped in easily with all FB parts (minus the brake rotor of course).
I bought a Tii brake adapter kit that was originally supplied by Re-Speed and then taken over by another guy who occasionally offers them for sale on Ebay. The quality was OK to so-so, it works, but spacers need made from washers to get the caliper centered just right, and the E-brake adapter I think I will have re-made custom because I don't like the limited engagement I get.
When I installed the used 4.10 Pinion gear with a new crush tube, I got a so-so result, the pinion nut needed to be torqued too much in my opinion and my drag was not terribly consistent. With my brand new 4.44 pinion and another new crush tube, the drag was perfect with the pinion nut torqued to the middle of the specification. New bearings were used in both cases.
Lastly, I bought a 7-8" micrometer to measure the ring gear pre-loading. (see the onilne writeup or the service manual about this). I measured a 30 year old GSL unit and found the dimensions exactly in the spec. I then loosened the adjuster rings and found them just about finger tight. The online writeup suggests that making a small tool for tightening the ring gear adjusters and using the good-n-tight method was good. I used that method with New bearings as they should wear in from new and loosen up from there. I did not go buck wild with tightening them, but they measured ~7.31 not tightened at all, and I tightened to ~7.33". This was about 1/2 the force I could have used by hand on this 12" tool. The spec is 7.3004 - 7.3033. The stock GSL unit which was original measured 7.3032, but that had no pre-load to speak of it seemed. I'm banking on if other folks take a 12" tool tightly and don't see failures, I should be fine. I also saw no appreciable increase in measured pre-load using a beam torque wrench on the pinion nut.
I'll definitely share if I get a part failure so others won't make the same mistake. It's been tough finding good technical detail on some of this stuff.
I also just re-read your comment on using a shop press. I used presses at my friends for a while before buying a harbor freight 20 ton. I am glad I did because it is fun to use and also crush random objects for amusement. The other good tools to use are a set of punches to knock out the old bearing races, and the harbor freight aluminum seal/bearing race driver kit. That was the cheap stuff. The other things you need shouldn't be cheaped on such as torque wrenches, both bending beam for measuring pinion pre-load, and whatever you preference is for torquing pinion nuts/ring gear bolts, as well as micrometers. I bought a set that spanned 0-3", a 3-4", and a 7-8". The 7-8" I learned something I think, and I've shared my learnings here, but I did not use it to meet the 'spec'.
Last edited by laundryhamperman; 12-12-16 at 05:37 PM.
