My Differential (before and after welding)

[99SL2_Modder]

People always ask why I cna't do what Mopar people do with their open diffs...they unbolt 2 of the bolts from the gear, and put in a piece of metal. You'll see why I can't do that now.

http://www.xwarlordx.com/99sl2_modder/My%20Car%20Pics/Transmission/Differential/Before%20Welding/diff1.JPG
http://www.xwarlordx.com/99sl2_modder/My%20Car%20Pics/Transmission/Differential/Before%20Welding/diff2.JPG
http://www.xwarlordx.com/99sl2_modder/My%20Car%20Pics/Transmission/Differential/Before%20Welding/diff3.JPG
http://www.xwarlordx.com/99sl2_modder/My%20Car%20Pics/Transmission/Differential/Before%20Welding/diff4.JPG
http://www.xwarlordx.com/99sl2_modder/My%20Car%20Pics/Transmission/Differential/Before%20Welding/diff5.JPG
http://www.xwarlordx.com/99sl2_modder/My%20Car%20Pics/Transmission/Differential/Before%20Welding/diff6.JPG
http://www.xwarlordx.com/99sl2_modder/My%20Car%20Pics/Transmission/Differential/Before%20Welding/diff7.JPG

Looks damn good, like the rest of the trans, for having 70k on it. No pin movement.

*edit*
I will provide pictures after the welding is done.

[silver05bullet]

Nice pics

[MuddyREX]

Looks to be in perfect condition, good work. :thumbup:

Every time I change the fluid in my rear diff, chunks of metal come out. :roll:

[99SL2_Modder]

Looks to be in perfect condition, good work. :thumbup:

Every time I change the fluid in my rear diff, chunks of metal come out. :roll:


Good work? This is from the manual I bought for 75 bucks, lol. Can't believe how mint the inside of the trans was for such a low cost.

But, that diff is gonna be welderfied.

[themadhatter]

Looks to be in perfect condition, good work. :thumbup:

Every time I change the fluid in my rear diff, chunks of metal come out. :roll:
sounds like my Tahoe.....damn POS.

---

what's the gearing on that diff vs the gearing on the one you currently have?

[99SL2_Modder]

sounds like my Tahoe.....damn POS.

---

what's the gearing on that diff vs the gearing on the one you currently have?

This is a manual with 4.06 gearing. I have an automatic with some stupidlow gearing. I'm doing an auto to manual swap once I get the rest of the parts. This diff is just getting a welded pin so it doesn't grenade on me.

*edit*
Autotragic gearing is somewhere in the 3.55 to 3.73 range. The 4.06 will help a ton.

[2point4DSM]

Looks similar to a DSM front diff.

[64coupe]

clint see them spider gears weld em together lol ;)

[redfiveoh14]

clint see them spider gears weld em together lol ;)

:iagree:

[1988 Olds]

Yeah boy.

[99SL2_Modder]

clint see them spider gears weld em together lol ;)
:iagree:

lol, you guys are nuts.

I enjoy having the ability to turn, thanks. :lol:

RWD cars are fine to do that to, since you just can gas it to kick the rear out to make the turn, but fwd would put so much stress on the welds that they have a big tendency to grenade when even at 10mph turns.

Looks similar to a DSM front diff.
You're welcome to compare it. Maybe we can start using DSM parts for our cars!

[TROLL]

please post car specific threads in the appropriate place. i moved this one for you.

[99SL2_Modder]

This is a manual with 4.06 gearing. I have an automatic with some stupidlow gearing. I'm doing an auto to manual swap once I get the rest of the parts. This diff is just getting a welded pin so it doesn't grenade on me.

*edit*
Autotragic gearing is somewhere in the 3.55 to 3.73 range. The 4.06 will help a ton.

I just re-read what you said, and I'm not sure if you meant to ask if this was an aftermarket differential.

The answer is no. It's a bone stock manual differential. The only aftermarket differentials are Quaife LSD's which cost $1800, and have the same gearing. There's so little aftermarket for Saturns that we have to do our own thing. Mopar has their support from factory, just like most other manufacturers. Saturn has nothing. The ratio is something like for every 20 honda sale sites, theres 1 Saturn performance site. I only know of 3 off the top of my head that are straight saturn performance. Saturn Motorsports, Street Design Auto, and Saturn Performance Specialists. Plastik Racing is starting on more sales, but they're just some harder to find things.

[themadhatter]

I feel your pain, get into the bmw performance or worse, bmw FI and you'll cry.

best of luck with the conversion but I'm curious as to why you won't consider selling the sl2 and picking up another one.

[BlackBulletTSi]

If I'm not mistaken. Correct me if I'm wrong Clint. But I believe that he is putting in a SOHC tranny. There better gearing and stuff.

[99SL2_Modder]

I feel your pain, get into the bmw performance or worse, bmw FI and you'll cry.

best of luck with the conversion but I'm curious as to why you won't consider selling the sl2 and picking up another one.

The conversion costs less than buying a new car.

If I'm not mistaken. Correct me if I'm wrong Clint. But I believe that he is putting in a SOHC tranny. There better gearing and stuff.

Longer, really, but essentially, at 6500rpm, the 5th gear on the mp2 can hit somewhere in the 180mph range, while the 5th on the mp3 can only go up to 150-ish. And that's only 6500, whereas my car can rev to 7200rpm with a manual without fuel cut or rev limiter.

*edit*
not that I'm planning on going that fast. the second gear on the mp2 is good to 63mph@6500rpm. Meaning I can cruise around town in any gear above that and save hardcore amounts of gas. The taller gearing is for the turbo that comes later. A longer first/second gear will help get the power to the ground and minimize wheelspin...on paper...torque is a problem, but that's a whole different post.

[Raven18940]

I feel your pain on finding parts. Saab parts are just as bad, especially 9-5 parts in the US. Many 9-5'ers are starting to make their own stuff, I'll probably fab my own intercooler setup.

[themadhatter]

cheaper overall or just easier to do? I did the same with my own car, I just didn't want to sell it. :)

[99SL2_Modder]

cheaper overall or just easier to do? I did the same with my own car, I just didn't want to sell it. :)

...what?

[themadhatter]

...what?
sorry, worded it poorly.


you said it's cheaper to just swap it out then to buy another one. I was just asking if the swap was easier to deal with rather then selling your car and buying a manual one etc.

[99SL2_Modder]

sorry, worded it poorly.


you said it's cheaper to just swap it out then to buy another one. I was just asking if the swap was easier to deal with rather then selling your car and buying a manual one etc.

Didn't mean to blow you off here, I missed this post.

It's easier than finding a manual in decent condition without a blown pin or a going pin. And manuals hold their value much better. Plus, finding a as low a mileage manual or as decent a condition car is very hard. Pretty much, this trans has like 1 or 2k more miles than my car does. Seems like a fair match to me.

[99SL2_Modder]

http://www.xwarlordx.com/99sl2_modder/My%20Car%20Pics/Transmission/Differential/After%20Welding/diff1.JPG

http://www.xwarlordx.com/99sl2_modder/My%20Car%20Pics/Transmission/Differential/After%20Welding/diff2.JPG

[themadhatter]

Didn't mean to blow you off here, I missed this post.

It's easier than finding a manual in decent condition without a blown pin or a going pin. And manuals hold their value much better. Plus, finding a as low a mileage manual or as decent a condition car is very hard. Pretty much, this trans has like 1 or 2k more miles than my car does. Seems like a fair match to me.
no hard feelings, it happens to me too.

I see your point on the gearbox swap. I think I mentioned it before that I did the same with my own car (motor/trans swap) for the same reasons.

good luck with the conversion!

-Ron

[FeeJ]

I know Ive been away from the TST for a damned long while... but why in the hell are you welding a front diff?

[2point4DSM]

Saturn front diffs like to come apart when the pin (the piece welded in the pic above your post) comes loose.

I use to have a 94 SL2.

[99SL2_Modder]

I know Ive been away from the TST for a damned long while... but why in the hell are you welding a front diff?
Only the pin, not the gears. I like to be able to turn.

Saturn front diffs like to come apart when the pin (the piece welded in the pic above your post) comes loose.

I use to have a 94 SL2.
True. Come apart makes it seem tame...more like violently explode and destroy the transmission.

[FeeJ]

Yeah I know all about the diff pins \/\/\/ (points to sig and SL sitting there)
My daily is a saturn and I have an acquaintance that use ot have a 3rd gen SC2 that blew up his transmission on 2 seperate occasions. Hes a bit of a schmuck though so it was funny to see his red car sitting in a red puddle.

Ok good to hear its only the failable diff pin though. I havent been to a sturn forum in even longer than Ive been here so Ive never heard of someone trying to weld that pin in place, Good luck with it.

So how well does it run like that now?

[BlackBulletTSi]

Lookin good clint

[2point4DSM]

So how well does it run like that now?

It should run the same if he puts it all back together properly, lol. The pin is not suppose to move so welding it in place just guarantess that.

[99SL2_Modder]

Ok good to hear its only the failable diff pin though. I havent been to a sturn forum in even longer than Ive been here so Ive never heard of someone trying to weld that pin in place, Good luck with it.

So how well does it run like that now?

Actually, welding the pin has been fairly common practice with most of the saturn people. The heavy hitters all run them (the 12sec and under s-series). I'd rather the LSD, but I don't exactly have 1800 to shell out for it.

The pin only starts to move when the anti-roll pins snap (or if they're not in there. Saturn made 7 different differential designs with roll pins and the like.). Since the differential pin has no stress on it in the first place, a tack weld would work fine. I went for a full penetration weld, which is what most people go with, just to be on the safe side.

We make it sound like it blows into pieces, but in reality, the pin slides out, grinds against the trans case every now and then. It will eventually get it hot to the point of poking a hole through the case and flying out at an amazing speed. From there, the spider gears inside the diff could collapse and seize, causing a whole grenaded trans. Else, you'll just lose all of your trans fluid onto the manifold/downpipe, in which case you'd notice a lot of smoke.

We've had 1 case of a welded pin holding up, but having the spiders grenade. The pin was in tact, but the spiders ground their teeth off and one grenaded into about 7 pieces.

And it should run fine. The welds only have to be ground down if it's a bad weld job, and the job on this one is very very good, and low, so it should drop right back into the casing with no problem.