So I have got my Triumph on the road now for a couple of months and Im starting to run into some troubles. The differential, at least I thing its the diff., has started to whine. The noise changes pitch with road speed and is only there when accelerating. I dropped the differential to replace the rear seal which had been leaking and refill it with gear oil. Its was a real bear to get it out and once down it had very little gear oil in it. I didn't see any chunks of metal floating in the old oil so I figured it must be fine. That would have been the perfect time to take a picture of the diff and ask how worn it looked, but I was in a hurry to get the car back together and out of my Dads garage.
The engine has also started to spit out oil smoke when I rev the engine (at what rpm you ask? no clue cause the tach needs to go out and be rebuild). So i guess my question is what should my first course of action be. The engine was rebuild about 1500 miles ago so I'm at a loss of what to do. Thanks for any help
-Ryan
Sounds like a dif. I would do some reasurch as to what gear oil is recommended for that car and or if there is an upgrade that can be made to help things.
Re the motor is . .. . well it is British it is just acting like is should. 
(;). That care I assume is pre PCV so that is not the issue. I would pull the plugs and or check the compression for starters. Since don't know what car it is I can not give you specifics on the CC breather system but I would look at that as well.
Sounds like maybe the rings didn't seat properly after the rebuild, or you have some sort of ventilation issue, go give it an Italian tuneup and see if it improves. As for the diff, what weight oil did you use? Might try a Xw140 to keep it going a while longer.
I put in the factory recommended gear oil, but I will try to put in the heavier weight. Oh and I forgot to mention that the car is a 1973 Triumph Stag, with the original boat anchor of an engine. I was thinking that the rings could be the problem, because when the engine was out at abacus (Abacus racing in Virginia Beach) they only replaced the heads, so I don't think they touched the bottom end. Also I was told by Bob, the resident brit guru there, that it was the worst engine he had ever worked on.
In reply to VonSmallhausen: Diff doesn't sound good. You may to consider changing the diff. I have a Corvette rear in mine and could send you some pictures of how it was done.
Pull the cover and have a look inside the diff. Wheel-speed noise under load generally connotes actual gear wear, though it may be possible to shim it back to something approaching correct contact. Run 90/140 gear oil, that'll help.
Does the engine smoke on acceleration or throttle lift? The first one is rings, the second is valve guides. Dry and wet compression and leak down numbers will reveal a lot of the story. Do all stags have the aluminum V8?
Bear in mind, British stuff in the 60s and 70s had rebuild intervals that were very short compared to modern stuff.
Factory Engine Rebuild Book!
TR8s got the aluminum engine. Stags got essentially a double TR7 engine, with four times the problems. Only Triumph could siamese two 2.0 liter 4 cylinder engines and end up with a 3.0L V8.
Stag_Driver, im interested in what you have done, are you using the whole corvette suspension or just the diff.? I have heard of people putting in the rear suspension form e30s into the Stag
In reply to VonSmallhausen:
You would need to drop the rear mounting plate to remove the rear diff cover. You'd really be better off to just drop the whole unit instead of trying to get the cover off.
The vette diff was mounted by the same shop that put the 327 in the car in 1981. It was driven like that for several years and from what I can tell 30K miles or so.
The rear mounting plate was modified some to allow the vette diff in there. The front snout of the vette diff was also modified as the vette unit is shorted than the Stag unit. The Stag axles are used.
I haven't looked into the BMW / Nissan setup simply because I have no need for it.
I do have pictures but not sure how to get them to you. Isn't there some kind of photo sharing ap I could upload them to?
If you find your diff is fried and you decide you want to stay stock I do have a Stag parts car - very early number that is wasting away. Twist my arm and I might let it go for a right price.
My GT6 diff has been whiney for years....even after I had it rebuilt by a guy with 40+ years experience doing LBC and classic German cars. Luckily, the straightpipes are loud enough that I don't really notice it, lol. That, and all the other odd noises old British cars make.
Yeah at full chat the V8 drowns out the whine, the rub is when you're on the highway
