Various diffs and belhousings, identification help

[Ella]

Hi guys,

Firstly ill start with the diff in my DX.

Being weird and japanese, its not your usual borgy rolla "needs a locker to make me strong" rear end.

The code on my firewall says its a U series diff, U302 to be precise. this tells me its got shit ratios and a bitch tiny crownwheel anyways, but is this diff as weak is im giving it credit for? and more importantly is there any LSD's available for this? if not, its off to the bin, or maybe one if you guys who likes having JDM bits on your local rollas can buy it from me?

now i also have myself a Diff from a KM36 liteace myself and a mate wrecked on the weekend. this ones aptly named E362, and from the axle specifications guide i found off good old google (toymods) this tells me i have myself something much stronger. is there any centres available for this diff that Are LSD? i think i remember reading somewhere on the net that you can use a TRD LSD destined for some model of altezza???forgive me if im wrong on that one, just a stab in the dark coming from a vague memory of somethign i read on toymods.

either way if i cant get a LSD ill probably use this one anyways as im sick of smashing diffs. need something strong, this will probably be my last rolla so i just want to drive it and not worry about breaking stuff.

OK now with rear ends out of the way.

I also scored myself a 5k from this liteace, and much more interestingly i scored the W-K series bellhousing and the W series box. im currently building a hopefully powerful once finished 5k (keeping the specs to myself for now) and again i dont want to be smashing stuff (been through several K50s and T50s behind K and A-GE motors in my time) i turfed the box cause the column shift linkages box is no good to me but the bellhousing i kept in hope i can use it with one of the many tough W series boxes available.
can anyone shed any light on what boxes and shit are available to me to use, keeping in mind i DONT want to cut any holes in the floorpan to get one's shifter to fit. also would be nice to find soemthing with a decent set of ratios in it but not too fussed, the van diff has very short gearing so anythings going to be all good.

i know this is all overkill, but ive broken a LOT of driveline components in my time, this time i want to do it right and do it properly. this is proabably the last rolla i will buy so i just want to set and forget it.

thanks in advance if anyone can help, excuse the novel.

cheers,
Ella

[Ella]

SH!T FU<K i hate posting at stupid times at night when i should have been in bed hours ago

can a mod move this to the tech questions section plz???

[slydar]

the E series is a pretty decent diff strength wise. the axles are only about .5mm bigger o.d at the spline than t series. but the ring and pinion are 7 or 7.1? inch.

i built a few when working at kaizen garage and also brett runs one in his SR powered car(HPI feature car).

these seem to be a decent compromise between power and unsprung weight.

there is no LSD that will bolt up though that youre going to be able to get your hands on in this country.

as far as gearbox. you can use any W box. probably easiest and cheapest to source one from a celica (ra60/65 or sa63). these are the most common at wreckers and go for about $350.

w boxes have 3 or 4 different shifter positions. from memory its the sa63 shifter position you want(i have measured W+bell and T50+bell to be the same distance, was a while ago though). but castlemaine rod shop does an exchange service. apparently you you call them up, send yours in and they give you back the one you need for a small fee.

[Golberg]

I don't think that bellhousing suits a W5X box (W55,56,57,58,59).

From things I have read on rollaclub, it actually suits a W50 or W40 box (steel case)
W50's can be found in just about anything manual pre-80's, they are also stronger than K50's and T50's again.

Wreckers tend to sell them for a bit though, typically its because the holden boys are stupid and seem to think that because the casing of the box is steel it must be better than the alloy case W5X's.

Don't take my word for the gospel, but go have a look on and you'll find out more info.

[Ella]

Ok so would kaizen be able to build me a LSD for it? They are pretty close to home so ill go see him sometime when i got a free arvo.
I work in a fabricating shop so i can do up mounts etc myself, is it worth going 4 link in the rear as i'm going to be doing a lot of welding anyways. Or should i just cut all the mounts off one of my blown up borgys i have at home?

[Ella]

i think your correcto on this one because i'm pretty certain the van i wrecked had W40 as the box code on the complaince plate...

[ROLL3R]

i've put a (thinks) E series diff into my ke20, it was out of a lite ace van that had a DSL engine (thinks) C something or other. it was leaf sprung, so i modded the mounts and bolted it into my ke20 using a ke10 tailshaft (shorter). Feels tight and got a decent ratio to suit the 5k im running in it. Doubt i'll ever break it. But i'll tell you its hell stronger then the original diff.

[Ella]

hrmm cool, another positive vote for the van diff