Incase I didn't mention earlier, the diff in the VK is absolutley stuffed. The gears are incorrectly worn due to shitloads of backlash, there's welding slag all through the housing, the barings are noisy as hell and the axels are twisted!  We picked up a stock VL diff off ebay for $10.50 to use for spares. The problem is that wagons have a different diff housing to sedans and the centers have to be built into the housing unlike the trusty old 9". So it looked like we'd have to take the 2 housings down to someone and spend some money.

We really want to make it down to the burnout comp at WSID this Saturday night and don't have the time or money to take it to an expert. So we thought as a quick fix we'll throw the diff back in it and use the spare axels from the VL diff, cross our fingers and hope for the best.

So yesterday we did just that, except when we put the axels in one was too long and one was too short.. We put them side by side with the old ones and it turns out that our original axels are offset 20mm to the passanger side. We doubled checked the housings, both measure 1400mm so they're pre VN style. The conclusion that we have come to is that our original axels are custom or out of something else. Our center has 4.11s in it and all the people I've spoken to say that you can use the gearset out of a pintara etc, but its not a straight forward conversion. 

So the only option to get this thing to WSID was to put the twisted axels back in it and hope for the best. They are only mildly twisted, so hopefully they'll hold up for one skid comp. While we were there we also fully de-adjusted the rear drums and fitted V8 Torana front springs to the rear of the VK. The springs that were in it were the stock ones that had been cut down with an angle grinder. It sat so low that we reckon the tank would hit the ground when we pop the tyres. My mate once did a similer thing to his stock 3.8 VN and it turned it into a drift animal so I know it'll help aid wheelspin. A few people have recommended doing this so we figured it was worth a go.

It's now all back together with the old damaged diff setup back in it and the extrememly stiff springs in the rear. I thought I should give it a quick test and I figured it would be straight out mean not video tape it. It's only a very small burnout because I don't want to upset my neighbours and these are the tyres that I'll be using on Saturday.

The main thing I wanted to test was the diff ratio and the springs. I hopped on the throttle pretty lightly so I didn't hurt the diff, once it started spinning i nailed it and she went straight onto the limiter. Look how hard the car shakes whilst on the limiter with those new springs in it!! I clicked her into second, and it really started smoking hard so i slowly eased the revs down again to try and look after the diff. I'm confidient that I could have easily got 2nd gear limiter and it should be able to sit in 3rd bagging it with no worries. This is why I really want to keep this 4.11 ratio.

So all we need to do now is wire up the AU thermos and the fan on the tranny cooler and it's ready to go. We'll be towing it down to the burnout comp so there's nothing to lose. I'll give it hell and if it blows it blows.