Different rear ends?

[Emtee]

Hey all, I've been doing a little reading and there seems to be an issue about the rear ends for the gt one of which is a drag in terms of new bearings. Of course I have a spare rear end that might be the bad one. Here's my question, how do I tell them apart? The one I have and am stripping down right now differs from the one pictured in the manual I have in that it has no circlips on the axles at the differential ends, unlike what the manual shows (book of lies!). Anyone car to break the bad news to me? are the parts for mine easy(ish) to find or terrible?

[Dmcbrass]

The one without the circlips is the later style. Congratulations, Wheel bearings are available for that axle. The earlier axle had cylidrical roller bearings that handled the radial load. The axle load was carried by the carrier bearings in the differential, thus the clips. Even if bearings were available for the earlier axles it wouldn't do much good. The rollers ran directly on the axle, so when the bearing went bad it usually damaged the axle also.

[Killer Texas GT]

and there have been times when in a high speed tight turn the rear wheel lifts and the clip breaks and the axle comes rolling on out wheel brake drum and "dam-" a flat tire, no the end of the axle hit the passenger door as my wife reached over and slapped me. So the later model rear end is the best way to go, bearings are attainable, and there are disc brakes that can be installed on these rear ends, some in kit form from OGTS and some you can modify.
rk

[azopelnut]

Can you swap out the ring and pinion gears? I have a 3.67 rear end out of a kadett that i wanted to put in a GT?
Will the ring and pinion(from a kadett) also fit an ascona or manta

[RallyBob]

Can you swap out the ring and pinion gears? I have a 3.67 rear end out of a kadett that i wanted to put in a GT?
Will the ring and pinion(from a kadett) also fit an ascona or manta

If you have the right carrier, yes. The early style Kadett carrier won't work in a later axle housing. But the Kadett 3.67 ring and pinion would fit a later style 3.67 Manta (Rallye) carrier, or a 3.44 carrier with a 4 mm spacer.

[BQS4]

Bob;
What is needed to fit 3.18 gears into which/what axle housing?

[Emtee]

Thanks for the info everyone! How odd that Murphy took a pass this time..I have the good one...yay me! I do need one part though, the mounting point for the sway bar has had the thread sheared off, any thoughts on availability? If needs be I can make one (ex-millwright with access to a shop) but I'd rather just get one. No rush, I'm really just working on the rear end as preventative maintainace. Once the brakes on the original go, I'm going to swap the whole shebang. We're talking next year at the very soonest. Also, any thoughts on good ideas while I'm in the neighbourhood? I'd rather spend less than more, but I'm on the lookout for 'bang for the buck' jobs while I'm spending the time anyway. New gears? I have the 2.2 with getrag and an S-10 clutch so the next worry is the rear end which is bone stock. Brakes? If I'm putting all new parts on anyway are there options to improve stopping without going to discs? Any thoughts would be welcome. Thanks again.

Mike

[RallyBob]

Bob;
What is needed to fit 3.18 gears into which/what axle housing?

3.18 gears fit on any 3.44 carrier section. Pretty straightforward swap.

[tomking]

RallyBob, will a complete pinion and ring gear mounted from an early axle fit into a late axle? I have good early axles differentials but no good late model diffys. I am trying to repair my late model diffys and dont want to use the exisiting gears as they are pitted. Thanks.

[jeff denton]

The guts are the same early to late. There are two carriers, the 3.18/3.44, and the 3.67, so watch out for this difference. Do know that you can't put late axles in an early housing and vise versa.

[tomking]

Thanks Jeff, I do know about the axles, but was needing to know for sure about the ring gear and pinions with carrier.

[jeff denton]

Tom, anything needed to know about Opel rear end overhaul is covered pretty well in a thread called "different gear ratios" or something similar, I think I started it about a year ago when I was doing one. I learned a lot there, and discovered a bunch on my own, too. Like forget the silly FSM methods and treat it like a simple common differential, which is all it is!
Correction, the thread is "pinion depth"

[tomking]

Thanks Jeff. As I have been reading and searching about diffs, anticipating my first rebuild of same, I am becoming more comfortable with the thought. Some articles are easier to understand than others. I think I have it now and am proceeding with rebuild using early model ring gear and pinion in late model unit. Plus I will install my Phantom Grip at the same time.