Hello I'm trying to decide if I should put the rear axle from my 74 spider parts car into my 69 1750 berlina. Should I swap trailing arms, springs and all?
The '69 was sort of an interim model - has a mix of early 105 and late 105 components. So, I am not certain whether the later trailing arms will fit.
I can tell you that for pre '69 cars, the early trailing arms have to be retained when doing a differential swap. The early trailing arms have smaller profile at the front, and the mounting pivots on the frame won't accommodate the later arms. Not sure about '69's. Compare your '69 and '74 trailing arms - if the bushings at the front are different in diameter, stick with the '69 arms. You may want to install new bushings while you have things apart.
Should I remove the axle with the T-bar? Is this easier?
This is like the question of whether the engine & transmission should be removed as a unit, or seperately. You can do it either way.
I like to remove the differential first, and then the T bar simply because I always work alone, and the combined differential
and T bar is awfully heavy. Also, on reinstallation, it's kind of a pain to line up the bushings at the ends of the T bar with three bolt holes in the frame. Having the heavy diff attached will make this hard job even harder. With a lift and two strong helpers, it is probably doable.
