Quaife LSD's, Trannies and Steering Racks

[booeman]

does anyone have any experience with these guys?Products manufactured for Opel by QUAIFE - Quaife Engineering 4 speed close rato gear clusters, ATB differentials and rack and pinions

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by booeman does anyone have any experience with these guys?Products manufactured for Opel by QUAIFE - Quaife Engineering 4 speed close rato gear clusters, ATB differentials and rack and pinions

I have used the Quaife differentials in Opels. Decent for asphalt, but unsuitable for dirt or snow IMO, at least at a competitive level. A clutch-type differential works better on asphalt too for racing, but the Quaife makes a nice street diff.

I have a 4-speed Quaife straigh-cut gearbox for my Ascona rallycar project. Unsuitable for street use, not because it doesn't work, but because:
A) It has straight-cut gears, and therefore is LOUD as heck in 1st thru 3rd gear (4th is direct drive). I mean LOUD.
B) Unless you have a steeper rear axle ratio, first gear with a stock 3.44 is good for about 65 mph. Which means the car is absolutely lethargic until about 40 mph or so. Try starting off in 2nd gear with your stock 4-speed to see what I mean. On the other hand, once you're rolling, the acceleration through the gears is pretty nice. Definitely made for road racing or rallying, not for street.
C) The gears are still in an Opel case, with Opel-sized gears and bearings. It will still fail if you punish it. Consider 180 hp or so the max power it can handle under hard use. I will have about 165 hp behind mine, and in order to make it last I built a deep-sump oil pan (Opel 4-speeds run hot), and I am contemplating a pump/cooler setup as well. I only use Redline MTL synthetic gear oil with any Opel tranny that is worked hard.

There are no Quaife fast rack-and-pinions to fit North American-spec cars. They only sell fast racks for later Manta B's (they are wider than the US cars). Now, you CAN fit these into the older Manta A rack housings (you're only buying the guts BTW, not a complete rack), but you need to perform some machine work to both the rack itself, and to the end bushings in the housing. I've done it, in fact I built eight of them over the years. The machine work cost more than the rack parts (in bulk, I had them all done at once), but that was about 12-15 years ago when Quaife parts were cheaper and the exchange rate was more in our favor.

HTH,
Bob

[jeff denton]

I don't entirely understand what I'm seeing there. By "dog engagement", does that mean there are no synchro rings? What is a "steel baulk ring"?
I'll be plugging in those second and third ratios and see how that compares to everything else on my chart.

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by jeff denton I don't entirely understand what I'm seeing there. By "dog engagement", does that mean there are no synchro rings?

Correct. But from what I understand, even though Quaife lists the 4-speed 'dogbox' option, no one who has ordered one has actualy gotten one. Not enough orders to make it worth a production run, even though it was designed 15+ years ago.

What is a "steel baulk ring"?

Syncronizer ring for us Yanks. Third and fourth are known to shred and/or break in two under hard use, so they make steel ones that will hold up a bit longer.

[oppositelock]

Originally Posted by RallyBob There are no Quaife fast rack-and-pinions to fit North American-spec cars. They only sell fast racks for later Manta B's (they are wider than the US cars). Now, you CAN fit these into the older Manta A rack housings (you're only buying the guts BTW, not a complete rack), but you need to perform some machine work to both the rack itself, and to the end bushings in the housing. I've done it, in fact I built eight of them over the years. The machine work cost more than the rack parts (in bulk, I had them all done at once), but that was about 12-15 years ago when Quaife parts were cheaper and the exchange rate was more in our favor. HTH, Bob

There are quick rack kits made for the A chassis cars by other manufacturers. At least there were 20 years ago because I got one for my Manta rally car. Direct replacement guts, very easy to do. gave about 2.25 turns lock to lock, IIRC. I believe it came from Sweden. I could talk to my guy and see if they are still available if anyone was interested.

[Manta Rallier]

You know I'll bite, Dave. Manta A interest only tho'.....

And BTW, are you in on the group buy for the flywheels??

Mark B.

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by oppositelock There are quick rack kits made for the A chassis cars by other manufacturers. At least there were 20 years ago because I got one for my Manta rally car. Direct replacement guts, very easy to do. gave about 2.25 turns lock to lock, IIRC. I believe it came from Sweden. I could talk to my guy and see if they are still available if anyone was interested.

I've had a few of the Swedish racks a friend of mine brought over that were a direct fit to the Manta A. They were pretty costly back in the early '90's, but the nicest thing was they had a helical-cut pinion gear (the Quaife is straight-cut), and the effort was much lighter than the Quaife. As I recall, the ones I had were 2.6 turns vs. the Quaife @ 2.4 turns and stock @ 3.9 turns. But they were great for the street and light track duty.

I think there's a company in Finland making them too as a direct fit, not sure about the ratio however.

Bob

[oppositelock]

Originally Posted by Manta Rallier You know I'll bite, Dave. Manta A interest only tho'..... And BTW, are you in on the group buy for the flywheels?? Mark B.

I'll find out if he can still get them.

I've been pondering the flywheel but I already have a lightened flywheel (though not as light as the aluminum) and I wouldn't want it for the S10 clutch fitment. Mostly I don't really have the extra dough right now and I'd rather set that money aside for the planned XE 16 valve motor. I'm not sure I can justify spending $400 on a flywheel for an engine that will only temporarily be in the car. However, it will probably take longer to get the XE project going than I'd like so who knows.

[oppositelock]

Originally Posted by RallyBob I've had a few of the Swedish racks a friend of mine brought over that were a direct fit to the Manta A. They were pretty costly back in the early '90's, but the nicest thing was they had a helical-cut pinion gear (the Quaife is straight-cut), and the effort was much lighter than the Quaife. As I recall, the ones I had were 2.6 turns vs. the Quaife @ 2.4 turns and stock @ 3.9 turns. But they were great for the street and light track duty. I think there's a company in Finland making them too as a direct fit, not sure about the ratio however. Bob

The one I got almost exactly 20 years ago only cost about $130, maybe less, memory fades. The ironic thing is I bought the Ascona about the same time the quick rack kit and some other bits for the Manta finally showed up so I never actually drove a rally in the Manta with the quick rack. I installed it and my friend Paul the Pom drove the Manta in the first event I did in the Ascona. The Ascona, of course, already had a quick rack, also 2.2 turns.

[hrcollinsjr]

Originally Posted by oppositelock I'll find out if he can still get them.

Interested in one for an Ascona A.

Harold

[stardust_73]

Originally Posted by booeman does anyone have any experience with these guys?Products manufactured for Opel by QUAIFE - Quaife Engineering 4 speed close rato gear clusters, ATB differentials and rack and pinions

I installed 2 Quaife Diffs at past and my opinion about them is that are VERY good about their quality and maintenance but not good at racing use
(The original ZF 75% is allways behave better exept at WET asphalt)

[itb gt]

The Quaife people are good.When we had problems with the LSD in the race car they sent me new washers/springs,worked great.3 NERC and 3 NARRC championships,not bad for a opel gt.If your going to race it tell them.

[stalle]

You can still get a short steering to a Manta/Ascona A
from Sweden here
STIG Kristiansson Bil AB

You have to choose "styrning" and "styrväxel"

"kort styrväxel" (no picture) costs 1850 sek (about $ 258)


/Staffan

[tomking]

Since this is a thread about LSDs, trannies and steering racks, I have a question. Will a differential from a Manta B fit into the Manta A housing? Is is drop in or machining required? Thanks.

[RallyBob]

Originally Posted by tomking Since this is a thread about LSDs, trannies and steering racks, I have a question. Will a differential from a Manta B fit into the Manta A housing? Is is drop in or machining required? Thanks.

Direct fit. All bearings fit too. Only difference is the axle housing (wider) and of course the axles themselves are longer.