<VV> discovered 62 posi diff snout fractured

[shortle]

Hi Ray, These are great questions and and you will end with many conflicting answers. Here is a couple of mine based on my experiences. The snout (actually clutch release bearing shaft) needs to be replaced for this stuff to operate properly. This is a fact. The shaft in question is the same for all manual transmission differentials, posi or not. I have replaced this part by either paying someone more knowledgeable than myself (in my case it was Steve Goodman) or by "counting" the turns of each of the 3 cones and then putting them back EXACTLY with new seals. This is assuming it is set up properly to start with. You will need a hydraulic press to remove/install the replacement shaft. Now for the kicker, you will ruin stuff if you don't set up the diff. properly. Gear backlash and bearing preload are just a couple of things that come to mind. You will need to use a proper type tool to turn the cones. They are cast iron and are soft. Be careful, don't break off the teeth/ears. Others will have different opinions. Some will say this job is easy (so is brain surgery if you know what you are doing) and I am sure it is.
Timothy Shortle in Durango Colorado 81301   


-----Original Message-----
>From: Ramon Rodriguez III <corvairgrymm at gmail.com>
>Sent: Jun 29, 2013 9:30 PM
>To: virtualvairs at corvair.org
>Subject: <VV> discovered 62 posi diff snout fractured
>
>Hi guys.  Today we finally got to installing that 140 engine in Ben's
>62 coupe, a job I had asked lots of questions about some time back.
>Ben is a good friend of mine ( he is 27 years old) who fell in love
>with Corvairs after riding around in mine quite a bit.  Ben rode along
>with me a couple of years ago when I bought a cheap 62 PG Monza coupe,
>black with red interior, and he fell in love with the car as soon as
>he saw it and told me he wanted to find one identical but with a four
>speed.  A year or so later we found him a barnyard 62 Monza four speed
>coupe which he bought for $400 and we towed it to my house where it
>has been for a year or so since while I helped him work toward getting
>it put together enough to drive in what tiny bit of spare time he has.
> The car has some body rust and bad floors but the undercarriage is
>actually pretty decent... for now it is destined to be a "rat rod"
>with a 140 engine upgrade, but he does plan to slowly turn it into a
>nice car as time and money permit.
>
>We have had a couple of rotten luck setbacks which I've helped Ben
>through, starting with the discovery of a shredded rear wheel bearing
>that I replaced with one from one of my project cars without telling
>Ben what they cost.  The one thing that made up for it was we got
>lucky and it turned out the car had a posi diff which Ben was excited
>about.  Today, while we thought we were within 24 hours of having the
>140 engine installed and the car finally on the road we suffered
>another huge setback... that posi diff turned on us!
>
>When we separated the 62's engine and transaxle I found the snout seal
>retainer floating on the shaft.  The seal is shredded and the snout
>has a fracture at the bottom.  I've heard many mentions of the dreaded
>broken diff snout, and I always use my threaded rods to protect the
>snout when separating or assembling drive trains.  This discovery
>explains the oil saturated clutch and rough engagement that made the
>car essentially undrivable.
>
>My first question is whether or not the part we need is different for
>a posi than for a standard diff?  Next up is whether or not replacing
>the part is any worse a job on a posi diff?  Ben was crushed by the
>disappointment so near the goal of finally driving his Corvair after a
>year of waiting.
>
>I have never done any differential or transmission work, this will be
>a new experience for me and I'm not 100% sure I'm up to the task.  Any
>help and/or advice would be appreciated.
>
>Ray Rodriguez III
>Lake Ariel, PA
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