Donor parts refurbishment – Part I

Differential refurb starts..

Took the ‘nose’ out of the diff housing today as I need to send it to Mk Sportscars asap. Pretty straighforward with all of the bolts undoing easily. Just need to note the location of the two non-standard bolts when reassembling. The diff housing is very grubby and needs to be cleaned thoroughly before shipping. When it returns I plan to have it professionally blasted and powder coated (along with the drive shafts and wheel hubs).

Location for the single middle-sized bolt holding the diff ‘nose’ to the housing.

Diff bolts and bushings.

Location of the single longest diff housing bolt.

Diff ‘nose’ and fixings in a bucket awaiting refurbishment.

Next step was to remove the bushes. After plenty of YouTube and MK Super Builder research I decided to go for the following approach:

Remove as much of the rubber insert as possible using a rotary saw drill bit. This worked OK but the saw got really hot and rubbery which slowed progress. After using it from both sides of the bush, I used a multi-tool knife to finish the job. I also used the knife to ‘run’ down the bush’s joints to make sure it was in two halves.

On the non-flange side of the bush, use a screwdriver to start to lever the bush away from the housing, being careful not to damage the face of the bush housing.

Then using a 1/2″ long socket extension and a lump hammer continue to roll the edge over, peeling it away from the face of the housing. Then use this lip to bash each half of the bush out (use penetrating oil too).

The result was both bushes out in about an hour and without heat or impact chisel. No damage to housing at all, just need to clean the corrosion off of the inside of each of the bush shells.