I badly wanted a posi rear end for my, recently acquired, 1994 Camaro project car. As it turned out, F-body limited slip differentials are in very short supply here in New England. After a lot of searching,I ended up buying one, but the seller says at the housing is rusty. My question is, how best to clean it up? My first thought was to Sand blast it, but my good friend,"Sesto Elemento" says that if I sandblast it, I must also rebuild it. Certainly there is another option (?)
If it isn't open, you should be able to sandblast it without any problem. Stay away from the seals.
This one was sandblasted without a rebuild. It did get all new brakes.
Blasted.
All pretty.
It has multiple thousands of miles on it with no problem.
How pretty do you want it to be?
I'd wire brush, follow up with an acetone wipe down to remove the dust and oil, and then mask and paint with rustoleum "extend" or equivalent to neutralize the rust followed by paint.
At least that's the approach I took on my snowmobile trailer axle, and it seemed to work well. It's only been a couple year, but it's holding up so far.
Knock off the scale, and hit it with some "rust converter" a-la Eastwood or something similar. I think the active ingredient is Phosphoric acid or something similar. It turns the rust black, then you can paint it.
snailmont5oh wrote: Knock off the scale, and hit it with some "rust converter" a-la Eastwood or something similar. I think the active ingredient is Phosphoric acid or something similar. It turns the rust black, then you can paint it.
Yep, that's what I did to the diff in the E30. I used Rust Bullet followed by gray rust-o-leum. I always use gray paint on things like diffs and oil pans because it makes it easier to spot leaks.
wire brush on a drill for the heavy crud, rust converter and then a coat of hammer finish black has held up great for 2 years under my car.
The rear axle is out of a drum-brake 1990 Z/28, and we will be rebuilding and swapping over the rear brakes from the 1994 car that we are building. Maybe that helps?
Electrolysis in a kiddie pool?
Isn't this tailor made for POR-15?
In reply to Appleseed:
Yeah, just don't get it on your hootus.
M030 wrote: The rear axle is out of a drum-brake 1990 Z/28, and we will be rebuilding and swapping over the rear brakes from the 1994 car that we are building. Maybe that helps?
Can you do that? I thought the housing widths were different along with the flange-bearing depth.
Or maybe I'm thinking of something else again.
Eventually, this rear differential will get rebuilt with 3.55 or 3.73 gears. My thought would be to sandblast the entire housing when that happens. For now, maybe we can just sandblast The axle tubes and control arm mounts without having to get too deep into it (?)
Why not swap the posi carrier into the 94 housing? Is there a difference that wont allow that?
I used Rust Bullet on a wire-wheeled clean housing for the Lethal Locost. It's holding up well, but it never sees salt.
I used Zero-Rust on a wire-wheeled clean and Tremclad Red Oxide primered housing for the Fiendish Firefly. It hasn't seen motion yet, so I can't tell. I am NOT impressed with Zero Rust on the underside of the bed of the Crusty Chevy, which is daily driven.
I used POR-15 on a wire-wheeled clean housing under the Crusty Chevy, and it is pretty impressive. It is on its second Canadian Winter.
gearheadmb wrote: Why not swap the posi carrier into the 94 housing? Is there a difference that wont allow that?
In reply to gearheadmb:
That would be the ideal situation. However, I've only ever rebuilt one rear differential- a W126 Mercedes that I swapped from a 2.46/open differential to a 3.27 limited slip - , and it howled like a banshee when I was done. Otherwise, that would definitely be the way to go
Differental swapping is the easiest thing you could do. If you don't have a dial indicator/stand setup, then get one. Check the backlash before you start, swap the diffs, make sure the backlash is the same as before, and you're done. You don't have to mess with pinion depth.
Think of it as mild practice for when you go to the 3.73s, which WILL require messing with pinion depth.
The 3rd gen rear is close to 4" narrower than the 4th gen one. The best answer is gears and posi swap.
Knurled wrote:M030 wrote: The rear axle is out of a drum-brake 1990 Z/28, and we will be rebuilding and swapping over the rear brakes from the 1994 car that we are building. Maybe that helps?Can you do that? I thought the housing widths were different along with the flange-bearing depth. Or maybe I'm thinking of something else again.
I think you're right, the 4th gen is wider.
Appleseed wrote: Isn't this tailor made for POR-15?
Absolutely. Get the dirt off and use one of those sponge brushes. Will look great.
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