It finally happened....Kaboooom!
 

Well, on the way to coffee this morning, I got off one of the local expressways for a bit of a ride. At the light I accelerated somewhat spirited from the green light (no clutch drops or anything), and I heard an aweful ping and crunching sound from my rear. I knew what it was right away, none of the gears were able to engage, and it sounded horrible if I tried engaging the clutch.......Yippeee, now I get to upgrade to the 1.8 finally. Here's a pick of the magnetic diff drain bolt...

Hopefully I'll have her up and running by next weekend. Anyone wanna sell me a Torsen? Pumpkin, halfshafts, stubs, and driveshaft please.

oopsie.

Welcome to the club. :) It's a pain in the ass, but worth the peace of mind of upgrading.

Anyone live in the Detroit Mich, area? I need a shipping address. Apparently, you can't ship 200lbs of used parts to Canada.

My Aunt works for GM, I think about an hour out of Detriot. I could ask her.....

^

You sir are absolutely always trying to help others! ::thumbsup::

I have a complete RX7 rear diff conversion available for sale, but it'll ship from Hawaii...so if you're interested shoot me a pm.

Well, I bought a 99 LSD, so I'm still running 4.3....I think 4.1 would of been the best, but beggers can't be choosers. I'm gonna contact UPS tomorrow and see if they can supply me with a shipping address I can pick the package up at.....if that doesn't work out, I may need Braineack to contact his Aunt.

I don't know about UPS, but FedEx will allow a person to ship a package to be held at a FedEx office (or a Kinko's store, in the US), with the understanding that the recipient will come to the office and pick up the package. I use this this all the time for shipping packages to myself for trade shows, so that the package is there before I get into town and I can just cruise by FedEx and pick it up on my way to the convention center.

You should give UPS a call and see if they do this as well. It's very probable that you could have the package shipped to be held at a "UPS Store" (formerly known as Mail Boxes Etc.) near the border. If not, FedEx Ground rates are usually not much higher than UPS, particularly since it will be a commercial shipment, rather than a residential delivery.

Or if you don't mind the additional drive to get it I live in Flint (48504). PM me if you are interested and I'll send you the addy.

I'm just hoping someone pays it forward to me. I did just buy a lotto ticket this afternoon :x:

Well, I got everything I need shipping to me at the UPS hub in Detroit. Package should make it by Thurs. I ended up getting a 99 Torsen LSD with all the trimmings to just bolt it in. Diff only had 45,000miles on it. The final gear ratio is still 4.3, I kinda wish it was from an auto 4.1, but beggers can't be choosers.

Finally done!!! Total time: 14hours....includes running back and forth to the local auto parts store. The hardest part of the install was getting the *#$%!&*! axle nuts off. It took 4 feet of pry bar, and I had to heat the bolts with a torch....I also used "Pops" method of melting candle wax into the seams of the bolt while it was red hot. I didn't have any trouble getting the PPF bolts off like others have, but the axle nuts gave me my share of headaches. Anyway, my initial impressions of the Torsen are positive. I no longer feel a "nudge" in the drivetrain when I accelerate into boost around a tight corner. The Viscous used to nudge a bit when it enabled, which gave you a uneasy feeling like the rear kicking out on me when on the edge. That no longer happens. I haven't really done any clutch drops, because I do feel there should be a little break in time (let the locktight dry). I'm still a 4.3 gear so no worries about speedometer error, and the Turbo keeps in it's power curve. Couldn't be happier.

P.s.- I got the diff and all the parts (except C clips- which you want new one s anyway) from Planet Miata. Very happy with them. (850$ for everything).
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awesome

simon