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GTAm Differential quandary

6K views 29 replies 11 participants last post by  richards 
#1 ·
On 1532307, there is the typical 'Slittone' set up and the rear axle as it came from A.D.

Fortunately the front suspension and brakes were there also, but not much else, as the poor car had been turned into

a 'racecar/taxi/trashcan'. If you have been following the story of this car, you already know.

Bottom line, inside the differential, it is the 'small unit', as not a proper 2 liter car/body even though
it was powered by a proper 2.0 Am, in the day.

My question: is this 'small LSD unit' (thick splined axles) able to carry the addl. torque that Gtam motors made then? They were readily available, and not a cause of great concern. Same went with the motors.

Have decided to keep all GTAm motor and parts in a box, install a hot (read: disposable, or not as $$$, just to putz on the track) as here, no chance of competing with a car of value. I really ignore if 'real Am's are being raced as some do in Europe, or in the USA
risking OEM parts?

So, a TS or 2.0 motor as fearing that grenading the 'real Am motor' is not a good idea, but have concerns on the diff, as also a 'precious' part. The car will not see racing again, until the next custodian might. That, will be my kids' problem.

Any advice on this LSD or alternative set up to go and drive?

Thank you all !

Regards, Alberto
 
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#2 ·
Hi Alberto

It is so long ago I investigated this that may memory may well be wrong....

However, I was under the impression that AD used the cam and pawl differential system....my understanding there are some, unknown to me, advantages with a serious disadvantage of quite violent engagement....

Also the spline count differs to standard GTA stuff.

I have a spare NOS one I bought out of Greece many years ago, if you are interested...

Others, more knowledgeable please chime in...also, I seem to recall an earlier thread!

Richard
 
#3 ·
I have a GTA unit which is smaller than the AD GTAm unit in my GTA rear axle. It has held up just fine for years on the track behind my GTA engine in different (mild to radical) states of tune. It's disadvantage is it runs partially locked, (set-up-pre install) at all times, and makes turning the car (on-off trailer, or low speed driving) difficult. At speed, on the track, it's just fine and is trouble free.
The GTAm pawl type, is locked or unlocked, and more non-race friendly. I have similar, GTO locker type differential, in my 275 GTB. The "violence" of the lock-unlock cycle is overstated. It just requires a learning-curve, which includes a few interesting spins at speed. Once you know what to expect, it's just fine. I've had the 275 about 40 years, and both street or track combined, only swapped ends 3 or 4 times early on as I learned. It is NOT user friendly on a damp track with dry and wet spots, noticed or unnoticed.
A big advantage of the locker type is heat build up. A clutch type LS gets hotter. This is less an issue today with synthetic lubes, conventional mineral based lubes needed frequent changes on the clutch type.
I believe either type can absorb the power of a GTAm engine, it's a matter of ease of low speed, or off track use and heat. All the above is only my opinion from my own experiences over many years.
 
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#7 ·
Hi Alberto,
Your desire to have ‘race ready’ unit even if it is not destined to the track is legitim. Consider this: On GT Am Autodelta team cars, auto-lock was ratchet type, with high closure ratio (47% and more on demand), 15 splines and its ref. number was 10533.17.043.E02 (the same was used also on 33 cars so capable to support and manage any power that GT Am engine could produce), and to be mounted on GT Am, the ring and pinion 10551.17.021.99 was requested. This slip diff. was suitable only for the track and not street use, it is not easy to find, and its price is high. In my opinion, you should search ‘standard’ ZF unit used with 2000 engines (it supports perfectly GT Am power as well-is the ‘small one’ as you call the one present on your car the same thing?). Its ref number is 10544.17.043.01 (10516.17.043.01 will do also) and it is 25 splines and ‘mild’ closure (25%) so suitable for street use. If you need further info, send me e-mail.
 
#10 · (Edited)
LSDs

For clarity, I`m referring to the clutch disk type of LSDs that came as factory installed units.

Both the "small" (that fit 101 &105 diffs) and the "large" version as used in the 2 liter 115 series as well as the different housing LSD in the 119 transaxles, all use the same inner floater plates, clutch disks, and ramp plates/axle/gear assemblies.

The difference in these are the internal drive sprockets/axle receivers, and of course the outer housings that fit the smaller ring gears (or larger) and different size bearings to fit the various "housings".

"Small units" can be built using 2 or 4 clutch disk which results in the same level of "lock-up" as the larger housing units.

In the late '60s I bought an LSD unit for my '67 Duetto. It originally came with 4 clutch disk, but they were assembled with 2 on each side,paired together "side by side" to result in lower lock up (effectively a 2 disk set-up). The clutch disk just needed re-positioning for more lock up.

I`ve built several LSDs for the smaller 101/105 using the large units from transaxle versions, as cores to machine to fit. These required either using 2 liter axles or welding up and re-splining to 2 liter spline size and design, as well as shortening the axles, (due to LSD internal parts).

FYI: For the clutch disk LSds the heavier 15 spline axles were really un-necessary as LSD units like these never are fully locked and are not delivering "locked stresses & twisting" as a welded unit or ratchet type units would.
 
#15 ·
#20 ·
Aberto, your unit is ‘standard’ ZF 10544.17.043.01 LSD and I think that I finally understand that ‘small unit’-‘big unit’ is question of diff housing, so yours must be before 1972 series 25 (15?) splines one. (First series of 10551 had ‘small’ diff housing if I remember well). It is perfectly capable of governing GTAm power under ‘normal’ conditions, but you can improve it for major torques as well. To discover its ratio, you should open it to see number and thickness of plates. Standard 2-4 plates (1,90) gave 25% closure (optimal value for road ride) that you can increase adding one more plate (2.0-2.10) to major it up to 40% (already racing condition) and even (one plate more) up to 60-70% for extreme track use but not for street driving. Be careful in using diff oil. It MUST be 75W-90 (red line) and NOT 75W-140 (though indicated by producers) as it could damage seriously synchro. I would suggest to change the set of plates with new ones to obtain 25% revised unit, or by new one (attention! serious prices) at Alfaholics or Classic Alfa. Good ride!
For Lastforry; the numbers on LSD housing are ZF production code for ITALIAN MARKET, different from German standard codes. Send letter to ZF, and they will give you the right type of codes for spare parts.
P.S. For diff works you need a special tool set!
 
#21 ·
Aberto, your unit is ‘standard’ ZF 10544.17.043.01 LSD and I think that I finally understand that ‘small unit’-‘big unit’ is question of diff housing, so yours must be before 1972 series 25 (15?) splines one. (First series of 10551 had ‘small’ diff housing if I remember well). It is perfectly capable of governing GTAm power under ‘normal’ conditions, but you can improve it for major torques as well. To discover its ratio, you should open it to see number and thickness of plates. Standard 2-4 plates (1,90) gave 25% closure (optimal value for road ride) that you can increase adding one more plate (2.0-2.10) to major it up to 40% (already racing condition) and even (one plate more) up to 60-70% for extreme track use but not for street driving. Be careful in using diff oil. It MUST be 75W-90 (red line) and NOT 75W-140 (though indicated by producers) as it could damage seriously synchro. I would suggest to change the set of plates with new ones to obtain 25% revised unit, or by new one (attention! serious prices) at Alfaholics or Classic Alfa. Good ride!
For Lastforry; the numbers on LSD housing are ZF production code for ITALIAN MARKET, different from German standard codes. Send letter to ZF, and they will give you the right type of codes for spare parts.
P.S.
Thank you for the info, absolutely a gold mine!

Will take mine apart and see what is in it.

Will post more details when there.

What do you mean by: "For diff works you need a special tool set!"

Kind regards,

Alberto
 
#25 ·
Alfar7, your objection is useful clearing, 75W-90 NS is excellent choice, and six discs are for theory not common use.
Richards, about spline number you are absolutely right (I have not paid attention to the photo where you could easily count them) but it is not 33/GTAm LSD (10533.17.043.E02) suitable for GTAm only with 10551.17.300.99 15 splines axles, this LSD was of different external shape. The LSD that Alberto posted is 10510.17.043.00, 15 splines unit, used on different Alfas, included GTAm.
Alberto, for LSD work you must provide special tools, few specific extractors, but that is not problem. Problem is specific tool to calculate pretension of the mainspring (in case of changing the discs obviously), and set the closure ratio. There are some alternative methods but they are not so accurate as original tool.
Here is 10533.17-043.E02 in bad photo but it is clear that the shape isdifferent
 

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#27 ·
Richards, the shape of the housing of your LSD is not familiar to me. It might be more recent and almost certainly not ZF. There are different (excellent) LSDs made by Quaife ATB (the one for 147/156 and GT is similar in housing shape), also GB072 Gripper is great LSD but its shape is more ‘classic’, similar to E02. They all exists with 15 and 25 splines. There might be other products too and I sincerely don’t know who is producer of yours. If it is 33/GTAm, it has surely high ratio (over 47%)
 
#29 ·
Richards,
your LSD is the Colotti - bean typ , used from Autodelta in th 1300 injected racecars. Just often discussed in other threads.......
 
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