3.45 diff conversion

[stag8manod]

For those of you who have fitted a 3.45 S saloon diff to you Stag, How did you overcome the problem of the misalignment of two of the rear cover bolts? Thank you in advance for any advice.
Cheers Ian A

[flying farmer]

My 1976 Stag has been running on 6 bolts rather than 8 ever since I bought it.

I had to fit a new set of bearings to the diff about 6 years ago, and just put it back as it had been, and have never had any problems with leaks.

Neil

[DJT]

Like Neil, I’ve run a 3.45 diff for many years with only 6 bolts holding the cover on. Made my own gasket from a cereal box and used Hylomar. No leaks.

[malc4d]

Is there a big difference in the original or the 3.45 ? Also I fitted a manual gear box to my car. Should l fit a diff from a manual car too, is there a big difference ?

[Hettiherald]

Both auto and manual cars came with a 3.7 diff as standard. The 3.45 diff comes from the 2000/2500 range of cars ( not all models) that gave them a bit more relaxed cruise. Only change it over if you want lower revs at speed, at the expense of acceleration. In my auto stag with 15 inch wheels it revs at around 3000rpm at 70mph. A big improvment for motorways etc on a par with a manual o/d car.
Dave

[Ian F]

I had a 3.45:1 diff (thought it was a TR6) fitted into my existing casing by Hardy’s in Surrey many years ago, don’t miss the acceleration, 70 is about 2400/2500 revs, fuel consumption usually around 30 mpg. Shame it’s always been a little noisy!

ps I’m on 15” Wheels with 195/55 tyres, speedo under-reads by about 5% so need to take care.

ian F

[GTJones]

For those of you who have fitted a 3.45 S saloon diff to you Stag, How did you overcome the problem of the misalignment of two of the rear cover bolts? Thank you in advance for any advice.
Cheers Ian A

Hi Ian
I fitted a 3.45 to my Stag and used Hylomar to seal the hole at the bottom as this did weep slightly, the other was fine but sealed it just in case.

No problem since :-)

Gary

[stag8manod]

Thank you for the replies. I would prefer to have all bolts in as I am going to make and fit a pair of transverse links which will swing off the diff cover and I want it as secure as possible. I am considering cutting/ machining the back off the saloon cover and tig welding an alloy block in to replicate the Stag cover.
Cheers Ian A

[flying farmer]

If you can find the rear cover off an estate then this has the same fittings as the Stag for the rear mountings.

[stag8manod]

Hello Neil,
Yes, but very rare In NZ, estates were only bought into NZ to order or a private import, I have one more place to check before I start this part of the project.
Cheers Ian A