Is the bearing width, inside to inside, the same on a closed axle and an open axle Champ axle? I am kind of just kicking around some ideas. (okay i have been hanging out on the various sites devoted to Miller race cars too much)
Use a sprint car center housing and side bells with a differential and half shafts ala miller/810 cord.
I should say, I want to use one of these so I can use the flat flange to accept a backing plate or something (bearing retainer) mounted around the output.
I don't have any open tube side bells at the moment. I think you could make spacers to adapt to 368 bearings. I would have to look deeper into the spacing but I think it can be done. You got a lathe?
I have a 9" lathe and access to a bridgeport size mill. Haven't finished fixing my van Norman yet. My thought was if it would fit in width wise, I can handle everything else.
Raven, Here is a link that describes a modification I did to adapt Winters Side plates to a Halibrand center. https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum...and-winters-quickchange.993472/#post-11191994 The plates are different than the ones you posted but the bearings are the same. I can get you a dimension of the narrowest differential I have ever made and what the distance between the bearing pockets would have to be. Might be a couple of days before I can put it all together. But the info provided will give you something to think about.
Wow. A lot of good info there. Thank you! I was planning to run a 31 spline differential. That allows me to possibly use an off the shelf axle stub. Unsure how to approach the double cardan at the wheel end. I don't really want to use a modern CV.
Here is an IRS quichchange housing I have not seen before. http://1speedway.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=65