After confirming that yes, we had indeed ruined a perfectly good differential (check your fluid levels, kids), it was time to pull our low-buck endurance racer apart and assess the damage.
After dropping the differential and cracking it open–wow! We’d noticed some metal inside when we removed the drain plug, but we didn’t expect this. It looks like a volcano erupted inside, totally melting the pinion gear and badly damaging the ring gear.
Fortunately, we have another differential from Treasure Coast Miata. Our Torsen limited-slip seems to have survived the incident, so we’ll transfer that to our spare open differential, reassemble the car, and get back on track.
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