Atlas axle question.

[martog 149]

Hi everyone. :thumbup:

 

I am about to rebuild an Atlas diff unit that has suffered a tad of abuse (hooning! :ninja: ) and on inspection one of the planet gears has a chip off it and hence i would like to know if the diff unit / planet gears are the same as Capri 2.0 and Cortina 2.0.

 

There is a couple of diff units on ebay at the moment but how do i tell the ratio without the crown wheel and pinion fitted? Or are the planet gears all the same size regardless of what ratio is fitted?

 

Or does anyone have a 3.75 diff unit that is good for sale?

 

Sorry for all the questions, any help / advise will be much appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

Martyn.

[cortina-city 141]

Martyn I can only say that axle rebuilds require some special line up to get to work, i tried and failed messing with mine but....

well i could re - assamble it all but it never worked right i ended up takign it to FOSTEK but i believe they are out of business now, if you succeed let us know how you do it as im sure a lot will be interested. pete

[sheffieldcortinacentre 759]

As said it's not so much the reassembly but setting up that needs doing right.

 

To check any diff ratio you count the number of teeth on the ring gear ,then the pinion gear, divide the former by the latter.

 

I.e. if the ring has 30 teeth & the pinion 10 the 30 ÷ 10 gives you 3.00:1.

 

Far as i know 2.0 Capri uses an English axle ,only the 2.8/3.0 use an atlas both these axles fetch good moneyas they can take high 200s hp.

 

With out checking I'm pretty sure that the planet gears are different the ones that the halfshafts engage into I'm sure are.

 

To be honest it will be easier/ cheaper to by another complete axle.

 

What sort of power/tyre combo are you running? It's grip that will break stuff of the line.

 

A cortina atlas axle should be up to handleing 200 lbft of torque.

[Tigdlo 27]

Just for information. I have owned three 1.6 Capris, a 1979 L, a 1983 LS and a 1984 LS. All 3 were fitted with Atlas axles as standard. I did manage to transplant the guts from the 1979 axle into a mk3 Cortina Atlas axle casing, and it all fitted ok, but it was noisy due to me not setting it up correctly.

[Colr6 16]

Try Andy at Arrow engineering ( Chesterfield)for your axle rebuilds he's very good and doesn't rip you off.

[martog 149]

Thanks for the replies guys! :)

 

Bit more info now i have the unit back off the guy who stripped it. It's knackered!!! :wacko:

The small gears that run through the big pin seized to the pin and were a :huh: :angry: :tazz: :excl: :rant: pig to remove (his words, not mine!!!).

Now i know how many shims run on each side of the bearings i might go for one of those units that Evans and son are selling on e-bay then get some new side bearings (Ste!!!) and fit it back into the casing.

 

I'm thinking since i have not touched the pinion (that's still fitted in the casing and seems ok), running the same set up as removed should (in theory) not make a difference.

 

Any thoughts on this is welcomed. :thumbup:

 

Mines just a standard 2.0 pinto with 5 speed 'box.

[sheffieldcortinacentre 759]

No they have to be a matched pair & will need the appropriate shims to set them up.

[martog 149]

No they have to be a matched pair & will need the appropriate shims to set them up.

 

Yes, your right.

 

Just had a read up of The Holy Bible (ok, the Taunus / Cortina Ford workshop manual :sofa: ) and their is all sorts of trickery going on in there.

 

Thanks for all the replies, very much appreciated.

 

:thumbup:

[sheffieldcortinacentre 759]

Yep one job I've never tackled.