Retro-fitting an LSD - Who's had it done and how much?

I've obtained the factory fitment LSD but any recommendations as to who can pair it
with gearbox - ideally Surrey/SE London area - and how much i'd be looking at to get the job done.

Finally what are the gains/improvements over the non-LSD set up in peoples honest opinion.

Hi
For normal road driving use I would not personally bother as when you use it you are pushing it harder and then on public roads with the crap surfaces and cambers it can feel and behave snatchy, but for track use it is a must.
If driving around normally and sedately you wont notice it, but strangely for normal road driving compared to a none LSD FRP it makes the steering feel dampened, sort of duller. I drove mine for 2.5 years without one before fitting it.

pandy wrote:

I've obtained the factory fitment LSD but any recommendations as to who can pair it
with gearbox - ideally Surrey/SE London area - and how much i'd be looking at to get the job done.

Finally what are the gains/improvements over the non-LSD set up in peoples honest opinion.

Unless it is a new one check it thoroughly as there are a lot of knackered ones out there that will write a gearbox off, I know as I bought one !!

Simon

My opinion is it's defo worth it ..track or not!...

Makes the whole car drive more in control and refined, never found it snatchy at all, and neither should you on the ford viscous type...

I always describe the difference as this..

Drive round a corner....

with... feels like your driving round..

without...feels like your hanging on and relying completly on the grip of the rubber alone..



Chris

I'm running a series 2 RS Turbo Escort LSD , cost me £50 on Ebay.
Needs about 1mm machining off the outer diameter and a IB5 bearing fitted.
By far the cheapest way to go.

Best mod on my car bay a long way, but it gets driven hard and its a daily driver.

My local Ford dealer fitted mine, £300 I think we agreed.

Cheers guys. Ok a few fors and a few against. It is a brand new one obtained
from Ford. I paid £200 on ebay for it a while back which wasn't too bad. If
anyone knows a Ford specialist in Kent or Surrey that could do it and you'd
wholeheartedly recommend info be appreciated. Thinking maybe RS Medway.

I'm sure Alan will know of somewhere local.
He's in Gillingham.

Chris to be fair our cars are not identical, perhaps the combined experience on mine makes it feel more snatchy which may not be directly related to the LSD alone. Though I wont remove it to check it out

It's a hell of a lot more snatchy without it i'd say..lol

Just fitting one now, after a small centraliser spring went in the gear box, I decided to put the Quaife ATB type (bargain unused, chap wanted £600 bid him 400 and got it usually around 700). You need 1 gasket Gen ford about £18 two new bearings (you can get the old ones off un damaged but in not worth the risk) gen ford £72, (again you could get these cheaper for a bearing specialist) 3 lts of oil ford will cost you about £50, again you could use cheaper it just depends upon how much you value your car. The box came out Ok about 2hrs work with plenty of tea breaks. The 5th gear requires pulling off, ford have a special tool for this but if you have a pulling gear to can fab up a 360deg clamp so as to grip the gear without damage. Used a pillar drill to centre and push on the new bearing to the diff. to get the 5 Gear back on I will be doing the same except it will have some gas mark 6 in the brides cooker when she gone shopping 1hr should do it. Total cost about £600. I look at the RS turbo option and service exchange, but you still need to have access to a lath to get it sized down, and they do tend to ware. Quaife offer a life time warranty, they do cost more through but is to old average you get what you pay for.

At last - a man after my own heart . Well done 483 !!! I've just done similar to FMC23. The background information influencing my choice.
According to Wikipedia & other sources:-
There are several types of LSD commonly used on passenger cars.
Fixed value ---- Snatchy; Mediocre performance; Maintenance heavy; More suited to off road, rather than tarmac.
Torque sensitive (includes Clutch-Cone, Audi Quattro; Torsen; ATB) ---- best all round 1st choice in my opinion
Speed sensitive (includes viscous coupling, Mazda MX5) ---- poor 2nd choice in some cases due to service life & power consumption
Electronically controlled (Subaru WRX; Porch928) ---- Way too expensive/specialist
Electronic Brake based (BMW; Saab XWD) ---- Specialist/dedicated system/OME
This list is also falls in order of comparative sophistication.
In my case a Quaife ATB, courtesy of JJC Rallying 638.00, Bearings 50.00 cash, c/o Yorkshire Bearings & Transmissions (I'll be closed by five, I'll leave them under the bush to the left of the building). Gasket 22.00 c/o Stoneacre Ford, who also pulled off 5th gear for me, FOR FREE ! with their special tool, (recommended as it's quite a heavy press fit), 3 Lit Castrol Syntran 75W90 27.00.
Total:- 715 quid (My pound sign key doesn't work properly).
Check out:- 'FMC23 Preservation & Upgrade Project' for photos.

[lisafrp]

We've got Kaaz plated diffs in our puma race car and turbo sprint car, can't beat it on track, totally awesome turn in and pull through corners. We replaced our Quaife diffs with the Kaaz units. The Quaife was good, but not good enough for competition, when lifting a wheel it just span, the Kaaz pulls through it Very expensive unit at £1,100 a pop, but well worth the money if you are after 100ths of a second on track

http://www.part-box.com/product_info.php?products_id=32032&language=en

Hi Lisa, Yes that's bang on.---- I researched the subject a fair bit before getting my wallet out.
To my mind in a track situation, with a fixed ratio type plate diff you would tend to see say a 75/25% split of drive(dependent on set up) up to the point where traction breaks, giving some scrubbing losses whilst cornering & whilst the inner wheel is completely clear of the ground, under-steer tends to be reduced, &traction is maintained, gleaning those essential 100ths where it counts, in the corners. On the loose stuff, scrubbing is reduced by the loose surface & the outside of the car would see a similar amount of drive if the inner wheel lifts.
With a Torsen/ATB type diff, traction is still lost if the inner wheel is lifted clear of the ground, (just like a conventional set up), so it would not be suitable for those conditions. However for road (& possibly rear wheel drive/single seater) application, where the driving wheels ideally remain in contact with the ground, the Torsen type diff comes into its own. However lightly the contact, some 85% of the torque goes to the outside of the car, & the traction of the inner wheel tends not to be overcome. Scrubbing losses are minimized during cornering & less energy is absorbed by the diff as it works by mechanical advantage, rather than clutch friction. A Viscous coupling on the other hand dissipates any differential speed in the form of heat. It also favors both wheels to be in contact with the ground &/or a loose surface. Further, viscous life expectancy is significantly less by comparison & thus less practical for every day road use.
On that basis the Quaife ATB became my weapon of choice.

[lisafrp]

The Kaaz is very snatchy on the road and would not be nice to live with on a day to day basis, so you have made a good choice

I am still waiting to fit my FRP LSD box to my FRP to compare all 3 types. We might get around to it later this year....I have only had it sitting in the garage for about 2.5 years!