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Fitting a R31 Skyline B/W diff to LH/X


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#1 _rorym_

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Posted 10 August 2008 - 11:00 AM

OK..Here goes...The resason to do it..These are a set of axles from a banjo and the B/W.
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Get a diff housing from a R31 Skyline. Pintara is ok as well if using a spool but they only have 25 spline axles. The R31 manuals were all 28 spline same diff as VL Turbo Commodore. Have a diff place cut off the old Nissan mounts and fit the Torana pickup points.
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The Nissan diff is about 10mm wider each side but you pick that up with the discs which bring it back into line at the same length,remove the 3mm backing plates/dust covers behind the rotors will help. Redrill the rotors to your stud pattern, mine are HQ and when the wheels bolt on they hold the rotors.
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Now we look like this.
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Makes sure you get all the handbrake cables and brackets when you buy the diff. They have 2 strainer points/brackets you need to pull towards the front of the car, drill holes and bolt them to the floor as per the pic. You will also need to bend the floor bracket at the front to the shape of the floor after you have pulled the cables and bolted their tensioner plates in..
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Using a UC floor mount handbrake, cut 2 slots in the floor and open it up to pass the connector through.
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I used a stainless steel adjusting knuckle for a boat I found at a chandlory. I connected ot to the UC end then onto the cable bracket puller through the floor. Adjust up...Done.
I cut a piece of car tube and pop rivetted it to the floor to stop and dirt/water etc coming into the cabin.
The front bracket bent to the shape of the floor clears the tailshaft by heaps. Being auto adjust once you have tension, you just pull on the handbrake 6 times to adjust up the pads to the rotors. Be aware to get the shocks off, because the mounts are close you will have to drop the calipers. Fit the shocks up to the housing before fitting the calipers and rotors. Thats about the only minus in the whole deal.
R

Edited by rorym, 10 August 2008 - 11:07 AM.


#2 _rorym_

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Posted 10 August 2008 - 11:19 AM

Caliper/shock mount.
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Strainer brackets
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Floor /cable adjuster.
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R

#3 ollie

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Posted 10 August 2008 - 11:44 AM

Nice work,
Something i will definately be considering for my LH...

#4 fuzzypumper

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Posted 10 August 2008 - 02:19 PM

Ehehehehexcellent work!

Is that tunnel handbrake bracket clearing the talishaft OK?

Also I see you have used the panhard rod, how & where did you attach the other end?

#5 _rorym_

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Posted 10 August 2008 - 04:39 PM

Clears easy...not an issue.

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Edited by rorym, 10 August 2008 - 04:40 PM.


#6 enderwigginau

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Posted 10 August 2008 - 05:42 PM

Will re-align the pics with the text and transfer to the Article section soon.

Thanks Rory, you a resource the forum couldn't do without.

Grant..

#7 MRLXSS

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Posted 11 August 2008 - 08:40 AM

Great Stuff Rory! My mate just did this conversion, and we are just about to fit it up to his car. We mounted the HZ drums up to it as we didnt want the extra hassles of the rear discs to worry about. He went a 3.9 minispool! So that should be fun!! HAHA

#8 TUF 308

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Posted 11 August 2008 - 10:54 PM

i will get pics of the brackets i made up so you can still use standard torana handbrake and cables if anyone is interested

#9 enderwigginau

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Posted 16 August 2008 - 11:00 PM

What is the pattern on the tube ends?
Can Holden brakes bolt up?

Grant..

#10 _Brad1979UC_

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Posted 17 August 2008 - 12:23 AM

:| .....Look at that banjo axle!! I had never actually seen a good photo of them, no wonder they snap so often, it looks like a twig :P

#11 sl308

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Posted 07 October 2008 - 07:20 PM

i will get pics of the brackets i made up so you can still use standard torana handbrake and cables if anyone is interested

hey tuf308 would like to see those pics if i can.
got to send my diff off tomorrow to get done and would prefer to use the standard lh handbrake,
thanks,
steve..

#12 sl308

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Posted 07 October 2008 - 07:27 PM

great article rorym.
one question, what uni's do you use
steve..

#13 76lxhatch

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Posted 08 October 2008 - 07:51 AM

This is what I did:

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The Skyline cables don't quite make it to the original brackets on the body end of the lower arm mounts, so I cut them off and welded a new one a bit further back. Then all you need is a third cable (no sheath required) to complete the loop up to the original adjusting rod, I found one off a Falcon or something that fit OK but you could easily get one made to suit.

#14 76lxhatch

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Posted 08 October 2008 - 07:54 AM

great article rorym.
one question, what uni's do you use
steve..

If you want bigger unis, get the larger pinion flange (diff and driveshaft ends) from a Falcon.

#15 76lxhatch

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Posted 08 October 2008 - 07:55 AM

What is the pattern on the tube ends?
Can Holden brakes bolt up?

Grant..

Same pattern but the Skyline has it on an angle, probably wouldn't fit so well.

#16 _MRNOS_

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Posted 08 October 2008 - 09:23 AM

If you want bigger unis, get the larger pinion flange (diff and driveshaft ends) from a Falcon.



Also the v8 commodore's have a larger uni, not sure if the ford or v8 commodore is the same size though

#17 _rorym_

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Posted 08 October 2008 - 12:47 PM

I used the Commodore V8 Uni as NOS says.
R

#18 _MRNOS_

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Posted 08 October 2008 - 03:42 PM

Same pattern but the Skyline has it on an angle, probably wouldn't fit so well.



I looked at changing my commodore brakes to skyline to give more wheel clearance but it looked to be alot of mucking around to change everything

#19 76lxhatch

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Posted 08 October 2008 - 03:45 PM

I can't get any good pics, the car is too low!

The Ford uni is just a bit bigger again, larger diameter cups and I think a bit wider too. The flange is quite a bit larger and has 8 bolt holes instead of 6 at the diff end (still only 4 used) and bigger bolts. By the time I got everything in I'd collected Skyline, Commodore and Falcon Borg Warner diffs so I cherry-picked the best parts (including the lower km later model LSD from the XR6).

#20 76lxhatch

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Posted 08 October 2008 - 03:53 PM

I looked at changing my commodore brakes to skyline to give more wheel clearance but it looked to be alot of mucking around to change everything

Thinking about it I'm not sure that would achieve much - the Commodore discs have deeper hubs due to the handbrake drum operation, but aren't the caliper mounting brackets recessed more toward the centre of the diff to make up for it? I'm not sure as I don't have the Commodore brackets any more but I think the overall width from the end of the axle tube would be the same, but the Commodore brakes would go closer to fouling on the shock mount. Also the Commodore axle flange is larger overall and has a larger spigot diameter so would need to be turned down to sit inside the Skyline disc (or use Skyline axles of course).

#21 _ass308_

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Posted 08 October 2008 - 04:59 PM

i think if u change to nissan,u get a handbrake.commodore have a parkbrake.id rather the hand brake.differance is a parkbrake wont stop u if your brakes fail,and is realy a down grade to the most minimum thing u need to stop your car roling down a hill.
if u look above a rorys photos u can see his cable goes straight to the caliper,and that is the handbrake.he has a proper handbrake,it works of the same brakes that stop the car.a commodore does not,it has a secondary shoe for the parkbrake, so u get no hydrolic asistance,hence does as much stoping as a can pull on it

Edited by ass308, 08 October 2008 - 05:06 PM.


#22 TUF 308

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Posted 08 October 2008 - 06:17 PM

Hey guys here some pics of the bracket i made so i could still use the orignal torana handbrake cables

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If i was going to make them again id used some thicker steel but thats all that was on hand. basically its a L shape with a grove cut in one end so it can slip over the torana cable and the ball bearing can sit in the bottom of the L then just drill a hole in the other end so it can fit on the skyline caliper.

#23 76lxhatch

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Posted 09 October 2008 - 12:42 PM

i think if u change to nissan,u get a handbrake.commodore have a parkbrake.id rather the hand brake.differance is a parkbrake wont stop u if your brakes fail,and is realy a down grade to the most minimum thing u need to stop your car roling down a hill.
if u look above a rorys photos u can see his cable goes straight to the caliper,and that is the handbrake.he has a proper handbrake,it works of the same brakes that stop the car.a commodore does not,it has a secondary shoe for the parkbrake, so u get no hydrolic asistance,hence does as much stoping as a can pull on it

The Skyline setup is a little simpler with the integrated handbrake (although I think the Commodore one looks neater because its hidden). It doesn't stop you any better, there's no hydraulic assistance, I can drive around with it on if I wanted to (mine is exactly the same as Rory's pic).

#24 76lxhatch

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Posted 09 October 2008 - 12:43 PM

TUF 308 I wish I'd seen that before I sold the original cables, would have been a lot easier!

#25 _luke186_

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Posted 16 October 2008 - 02:53 PM

anyone done this conversion on a lc/j?




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