> Do I have to change the axle shafts to the later
>ones??? I have been told yes and no, what do you all have to say???
And Joe added:
>NO, NO, NO and once more, NO! I have SWING SPRING, Front SWAY BAR and
>Diff from a 1500 in my Mk1 and the short Mk1 axles. You will have to
>use larger flanges however from a MkIV or 1500 drive shaft and /or
>axles.
>
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Joe is not quite clear on this one.
You CAN use the axles from your old MK3, especially true if your not
changing the diff and it has the SMALLER axle flanges. Look at the front,
drive shaft flange on the diff. Generally, if it's square, it is the
smaller flange unit and if round then you have the larger flange unit. The
bolts (sizes) that secure all the flanges are also different from the two
units, so they won't interchange either. The axle flanges aren't that much
different, and unless you measure them or put one next to the other you
won't be able to tell the difference by just looking at them. The only
catch using the stock axles is you won't have the advantage of the wider
track. The main difference in axles from the MK3 (and earlier) and the Mk4
(1971-72) is the u-joint FLANGE itself. The later units use a slightly
larger flange (the same ones as used on the GT6) but aside from that, the
length and the axle ITSELF is the same. . .and the MK4 came from the
factory with a swing spring! When BL changed to the wider track in 1973,
the axle was made 1 inch longer, but the flange remained the larger, GT6
ones throughout the rest of the Spitfires life. as far as the models, the
MK4 swing spring is exactly the same track (same axle length) as a MK3.
The u-joints are all the same, so it's a mater of swapping the flanges and
axles to get the combo you want. On my MK3 I'll be using the narrower MK4
axles because the flanges will match the diff I have in the car. To make
MK4 axles, you just use any axle shaft from a Spitfire built prior to 1971
and the later axle (or diff) flanges from any GT6 or Spitfire made after
1970 (or just get them from a MK4). With the MK3 body you don't have the
fender clearance that you have on the later square tails, and going to
wider tires, I'll keep the narrower track. One other major thing. If you
DON'T use the original axles and go for the longer ones (assuming that
nothing has been changed from stock and you have a what I call the "small
flange diff") then you MUST change the axle flanges to the smaller ones (or
swap diff's with a later model MK4/1500), replace the brake hoses, hand
brake cable, radius arms, and the radius arm brackets in the body tub as
these are all different and WILL not inter change.
So a simple answer (yeah I know, hard for me :-}) is yes, you can use your
old axles, especially if your not changing diffs. Just remember you must
block off the two unused tapped holes in the top of the diff.
The shock's sound original, light blue, gas pressurized, as that's what I
remember taking off my MK4 WAY back when, when I replaced mine with Koni's
Barry Schwartz (San Diego) bschwart@pacbell.net
72 FI, V6 Spitfire (daily driver)
70 GT6+ (when I don't drive the Spit)
70 Spitfire (long term project)
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