<VV> Ring and pinion differences

[Clark Hartzel]

All earlies will fit all earlies ('60's different?).  All Lates will fit all
lates.  Differences are ring gears have 6 bolts on an early and 9 bolts on a
late.  The diff case and cover is wider on a late than an early in the axle
bearing seal area.  I think all pinion gears are the same early and late.
The pinion shafts are different because of the speedo gear. Of course the
ratios are different.  3.08, 3.27, 3.55, 3.89 and aftermarket 4.11.  And
don't try to use a 9 tooth pinion with a 37 tooth ring gear to make a 4.11
ratio as the tooth thickness is different.  One guy in my dune buggy club
tried it and his buggy sounded like a thrashing machine.  It lasted a few
hours before chewing everything up and breaking.  Gear meshing is a science
and you need matched sets for proper performance.  I get a kick out of some
eBay vendors (names not used to protect the guilty) who take all the gears
apart and throw pinions in one bucket and ring gears in another bucket and
then sell you whatever ratio you want.  Talk about "howling" gears.  They
are assembled as sets and should be kept as sets.  Actually installing a set
in a different carrier will never be right either as you can never duplicate
the shims and side bearing adjustments.  Anything will work in a dune buggy
or race car as you don't care about noise but if you want a nice quiet road
car it is best to get a good used diff assembled by the factory.
Clark Hartzel