banjo differential for westfield

[COMADIS]

hi,

a friend of mine owns a westfield with independant rear suspension.

the differntial is leaking on one of the drive-shafts and also has a lot of play in the gears.

so he decided to search another differential, instead repairing his.

here the questions:

is it true that the differntial is from the ford escort mk1 and mk2 "banjo"-axle and westfield put it inside there own housing?

did westfield always used the same ratio or could the client choose what he wants?

how much should we claculate for a good 2nd hand differntial/axle?

thanx in advance,

[westyman]

It it's independent suspension then the diff will be from a Sierra or Granada.
used replacements generally £20-3o from a scrappy for an open diff, £100-200 for an LSD. Recon prices seem to be about £300 or £700 for an LSD

[COMADIS]

thats what i heard first too, but as we watched underneath the car it looks differnt than the sierra/granada.

so it must be the differential from a banjo axle, mounted in a westfield housing.

[FNG]

Pretty sure Westfield have never done their own housing. How old is the car?

If it's not a Sierra diff, I think some of Westfield's more recent cars (and certainly the Fireblade-based kit) used a LandRover Freelander casing and crownwheel/pinion with (I think) a Quaife ATB limited slip differential.

If not that, I'd remove it and scrub hard until you found a serial number. Then (hopefully) google is your friend...

Good luck.

[spaximus]

The early independant rear suspension did indeed use a escort diff. This was in a westfield cast casing which I belive is a copy of the one Lotus used in the elan. I don't think it is available from westfield now.
The later cars use a Sierra rear diff. Join the Westfield club website you never know someone may have one there.

Jeff

[COMADIS]

@spaximus...exactly!!! the housing of my friends westfield (chassis is from 1988) has an alloy housing with westfield casted in it.

so No freelander, No sierra. so back to the original thread:

who many different ratios are existing?

[grahambell]

The 'English' axle as fitted to RWD Escorts (plus Anglia, Mk1 & 2 Cortinas and Mk1 Capris) came with the following ratios: 4.7:1, 4.444:1, 4.125:1, 3.9:1, 3.889:1, 3.77:1, 3.45:1

However, some of those ratios are very rare so you'll struggle to find them at all or have to pay silly money.

[CorseChris]

Westfield still sell the seals and plain bearings for these castings (well, they did last year). I replaced both on our car - no big deal. English diff repairs not a major problem either. Changing over the more modern version is, like all things, possible, but it would be pretty drastic surgery and very expensive I suspect.

HTH

[COMADIS]

yeah, i also told my friend to try first a change fo the seals and eventually the bearings.

strange is that the bearing on the leaking side doesnt seam to have any play but the oil runs out faster than you fill it up. and normally the seal gets damaged caused by a worn bearing.

does soembody have the diemsnions of the seals / bearings as we would like to organize them on the local market?

[cidersurfer]

I've just done the bearings and seals in mine. Took the diff out and split it, drifted the old bearings out and then plenty of heat onto the empty casing before drifting the new bearings in, which had been in the freezer. Two bearings with seals cost £20.39 delivered from Westfield. Oh, and mine was a 3.77 in the Westfield casing.

[COMADIS]

have you noted-down the dimensions of the bearings and seals?

are the bearings mounted from outside or from inside in the westfield housing?

Edited by COMADIS on Thursday 3rd May 22:43

[cidersurfer]

Sorry didn't note the dims, was in a bit of a hurry to get it sorted, they are installed from outside the housing.