Ive just started really getting into my 28 Tudor (build thread soon) and want to run all the early gear. Im pretty familiar with 8 and 9 inches having built a heap of them in the past, great diffs but for my mind nothing beats the look of a good old banjo in an early style rod. Im running a 364 Nailhead and was pretty worried bout the old taper an key axles, so I decided to run with 9" ones instead. Ordered a pair of side gears from the good fella's at Hot Rod Works, Ive bought a bit of gear from these guys in the past, their product and service are second to none plus being an Alliance vendor saved me some coin. Started with a lump of 140mm dia 1040 round and spun up some new ends to replace the originals on the diff tubes and matching the 9" bearings and seals with the right offset to still accept the original drums and backing plates, Next I set up the bells in the lathe and parted the original ends off to keep everything nice and square for when the new ends get pressed on. When I bought the diff the original spring mount arms were chopped of so I profile cut out and drilled a new pair, welding on a couple of bosses for the spring shackles. These then got welded onto the new diff ends, then I spent a couple of hours with a die grinder and polishing wheels to blend in all the welds to give it a smooth factory look. I also machined up a couple of retaining rings to hold the new axles in place, these bolt onto the new diff ends with 4 x 3/8 bolts When I initially machined the ends up I left them undersize to allow for shrinkage due to the welding, so back in the lathe they went for final sizing. The press in part was left oversize (.5 mm) then the new ends were pressed in, welded up (plug welded as well) and the welds blended and smoothed to match the original tubes. Last thing the carrier was machined to accept the new side gears then assembled.
Looks great man! This is the best thing to do to a banjo. This is what I have slated for mine. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I thought about replacing the '57 Chevy rear end in my '31 Model A with a banjo. Prices for getting a banjo, modifying it with a quick change, posi and better axles was a lot more money than buying a Champ or Winters.
Nice job Jason,I did a diff for a bloke here in Perth,used all Hotrod works gear alsnly difference is I made a jig and welded their ends on as they aren't pushin but butt weld. Under a 30 coupe here.
I think it's a good idea to spend on the HRW side gears as the original early ford 28 splines don't quite match with the 11 tooth spider gears. They work with the oldies but not well. What are you using for the pinion end housing or are you doing a quick change?
They just slide on like a standard 9" side gear, by machining out the carrier they are also retained inside of it, Yea the HRW gears are great and the work without any mods straight from the box, pretty cheap as well considering the time you could spend trying to modify the 28 spline Ford ones. Not sure on the quickie yet, been toying with the idea for a while now, I have a champ quickchange but they are slightly larger, I may just run with the open drive original unit yet?, I built an open drive number out of a 39 torque tube diff for the bucket last year, looks great and runs real nice as well.
Outstanding craftsmanship, I like it, more pics please... Is this a prelude to what we can expect in your build thread?
Thankyou, yea im hoping so, just about to start the chassis so I will start the build thread soon. Ive just finished the trans adaptor and have just had my wheel centres cast (made a mould as I want early 60's style NZ centres for my rear wheels), so things are moving along finally.
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