Differential - Final Fitting

After some thinking time I finished fitting the differential to the car. Before fitting I drained the oil and replaced the drive shaft seals. I didn't replace the forward seal because I don't have the right equipment and thought I would do more harm than good as it wasn't leaking when removed from the car. I will leave one of the cockpit side panels unbonded so I will have good access in the future if I need to get to the diff.

I flattened off the top of the differential with a grinder and a file to get a flat finish, then I used a combination of heavy duty square steel washers to space the diff from the chassis and get a good solid fit. I used a combination of my engine hoist and some lifting straps to move the diff into position ( a right pain in the arse). When dry fitted I found the spacing left a gap which I have decided to use to route the fuel pipes to get a less cluttered situation around the fuel tank.

 I used M10 8.8 bolts with nyloc nuts to secure the rear of the diff. These were torqued to 50Nm as per the bolt specs

For the forward bolts I used some M12 x 110mm 8.8 spec. I saw that MK Sportscars sold crush tubes suitable for Mazda diffs (why don't GBS). I don't have the kit to make those properly myself, so I thought a few quid well spent. I use some square washers on the bottom and nyloc nuts to ensure a good fit to the chassis. These bolts were torqued to 85Nm.

Must remember to fill with oil once the drive shafts are in! Speaking of driveshafts, GBS have lost their supplier and I am currently waiting to find out what options I have. I have not been given the driveshaft measurements to get some made, so relying on GBS to solve the problem which is now over 4 months old.