Here is the deal - I have had a couple FC's and currently have a 87 GXL. I have what I think is a good opportunity to pick up a 94 FD from a relative - but it does have some problems. Presently the car is not driveable because of a broken diff. According to the owner this is the second time that he has grenaded the diff. He is not hiding the fact the he drives it hard and regularly autocrosses the car as well as occasional track days. Car does start and appears to run well. He also claims that there is some issue with the tranny not shifting well into 4th & 5th. He was talking about upgrading the diff and has what he called a Sandburg cradle ??? I have no idea what that is. Can anybody help me with that?

So the car is generally in good condition with 76.000 showing on the odometer, but no chance to drive it. My questions are:

1) How hard will it be to replace the stock diff?
2) What on earth is a Sandburg cradle and is it worth trying to put in an aftermarket diff?
3) What can I check without being able to drive the car?
4) He is asking $8K but I think he will settle for $7500 - do you think it is worth that?

 

OK - I really did a lot of searching with various spellings of Sandburg to try to find info on the "cradle" that is supposed to be coming with the FD I'm trying to get. I found out that is actually a Samberg cradle that was designed and built for installing a Cobra Differential in place of the stock unit. I also looked into finding out what all the other costs would be such as axles, the diff itself, driveshaft etc and it quickly got to the point of way too much money - Like approaching $2K. So that would eliminate that option for me. I would likely sell the Samberg cradle to raise some funds for fixing or replacing the stock unit.

 

$7k and good luck. :p

 

You can do both a champagne bubble test and compression test without moving the car.

I've never replaced a diff, but I have done just about everything else related to it. I personally wouldn't hesitate to tackle it. I think the biggest cost will be a decent stock diff ($500). If you add a Banzai diff brace and don't launch the car with drag slicks you'll probably be fine for much less than the cost of going Cobra diff.

A decent stock tranny is about $500. Unless the clutch is nearly new, I'd also assume another $500 to replace the clutch, fork, and bearings.

All told that's a pretty good deal if the car is in good shape. Take careful note of the interior and exterior condition and if you expect to make it pristine, then get prices for those replacement parts. (Some interior parts are hard to find and very expensive).

Dave

 

OK - I'm going to look at the car this weekend. It is about a 6 hour trip from my house but I was going close to that area for another reason anyway. I have read a lot about what to look for and hpefully will have time do look at everything. I am really excited, but I do think he is asking too much compared to others cars I have seen advertised - but they are many states away from where live.

 

good luck