Driveline time

A couple of weeks ago I had to remove a diff for the project from a subframe. This item was from an R33 Skyline GT-R and is a Viscous LSD. Unfortunately it was at the back of the workshop under another two fully loaded subframes. It took a good 30 minutes just to move the one I wanted into a clear area and another hour to remove the differential and half-shafts from the subframe...ugh! I hurt myself in a number of ways while doing this. The reason for going the GT-R diff route rather than a mechanical is that this will be daily and 'grip' driving fun car, not an all out 'drifter', and secondly, I'm running short of funds to purchase a $1500 diff - there's other more important stuff to still get yet.

Once I got the diff and half-shafts home, it was time for a quick de-rust of the diff housing before a rust inhibitor primer and a few coats of the satin black. Looks good too. The rear cover will be replaced with a prepped and painted S13 Silvia one, and the front yoke will be changed to suit the driveshaft. As for the half-shafts, there wasn't so much rust as there was baked-on grease covering the boots. I had a quick go with the prepsol and discovered that with a bit of elbow grease, removal of the nasty grease coating resulted in a new looking boot. Took about 45mins for each half-shaft but the result was worth it, a quick mask and paint and the half shafts were done. At the same time as doing these, I also cleaned and painted up the drive shaft. It's looking pretty schmick, but for the life of my I can't find any photos.

- GT-R Differential Top
- GT-R Differential Bottom
- GT-R Half Shafts
- GT-R Half Shafts Boot closeup



Now another list on the prep list were the Brembos. These are items I kept from the R32 Skyline GT-R that I wrote off a couple of years ago now. They were in top condition and once I decided on colour scheme, it was time for a quick clean and mask followed by 3 coats of the Silver base coat (using VHT Caliper - Cast Aluminium paint). I've now masked up for the new logos to be painted in Red and finally I'll run another 3 coats of the new VHT Clear Gloss Caliper Paint to make it nice and easy to clean the brakes after the hard yards.

- Brembos Prepped and Ready for Paint
- Front Brembo - VHT Cast Aluminium base coat
- Rear Brembo - VHT Cast Aluminium base coat
- All Brembo - hanging in the cupboard
- Front Brembo - Logo Mask
- Rear Brembo - Logo Mask

I couldn't help myself and wait another day to paint the red logo, so have done up a quick and dirty mockup in Photoshop.



Onto another item now. I originally had a China Trust 'Copy' Sump installed on my engine, but after just sitting there for quite a few months, there's evidence of oil leaking. As such, I decided to purchase a genuine Trust/GReddy Oil Pan/Sump. Paid $510 for this from Tanghy on SilviaWA new (thanks Andrew).

- Trust Sump (Top)
- Trust Sump (Bottom)
- Trust Sump (Parts)

Will post up a shot of the Brembo's once finished (like you knew I would anyway).

Cheers
Brendan