AussieNath

Sorry it's been a while since I posted.....I did get the diff out by splitting both driveshafts. The right side driveshaft wasn't that bad a job, though a ratcheting spanner with adjustable angle head helped a lot.

Unfortunately when the diff was removed there was a nasty big hole in the bellhousing. The clutch and all of it's components were perfectly intact though.....phew!

That meant that the gearbox and bellhousing had to be dropped from the car. There are some really nasty bolts to access on the rear of the gearbox, and you really need a hoist to do this. That meant rthe car was dropped in to the workshop as I don't have that sort of equipment yet....bummer.

Anyways, the crown gear was intact, but it ground up the bits of gear that were spat out into the housing. The filings from the gears made their way into the gearbox making the job a whole lot bigger too. The gearbox is being stripped down and cleaned out to remove all the metal filings. All the internals were fine.

My advice to anyone considering a diff change is to do it as soon as you're able to. I could have replaced the diff no problem myself if the extra damage hadn't happened, but that's not how things went down.

In regards to the end float issue that someone mentioned, I have been told that yes you do need to make sure that it is carried out, but the same value can be used on the Q2 as the original item. I heard someone say that no preloading is required on a torsen2 diff....while this theoretically may be fine, it's not good to allow the diff excessive horizontal movement. If you did allow this, you would get a knocking sound everytime you go on and off the loud pedal.

I had to oder extra parts for the job too. You will need new driveshaft seals and gaskets (rubber O-rings inside seals).

Because of the damage, I also had to order new gearbox input shaft seal. The damage on the bellhousing cost $60 to weld up (nice job done too). This was a lot cheaper than $800 for a new bellhousing.