LA diff centres

[DanTurboLancer]

Hey Guy just a question about the LA Lancer diffs and their diff centres.

Mines a 74 and im wanting to try to find a mechanical LSD for it.

Like the Cusco 1 and 1/2 way.

Im just wondering does anyone know of a shop that definitely sells these centers and that i can call and they can sell me a bolt in unit.

Or does anyone know if the LA centres were generic and carried on through the LB or LC.
Or perhaps the same as the Galant or even early sigmas???

Just wondering because that might be easier to get a match if its the same as another??


I wont weld up another diff centre, its too rough for the street and on the car. not to mention illegal.

[Torana68]

various little changes to bits but all the same and nope no LSD's that I know of bar the factory ones ,which cost a fair bit on the odd ocasion they appear and you cant get parts for them. Have you rung the cusco dealer? they would be a better place to get onfo on their LSD's than here.
Roger

[kodos]

There are also some custom jobs around as well as some similar centres found in jap mini trucks I believe, but as a rule, LSD's are difficult to find.
Mostly you'll find 3.9 ratio standard diff centres in lancers and galants but there are some 4.2's and 4.6's out there
A mate of mine is having some made by adapting rav4 lsd centres. I think they have the same output splines?? not sure tho but plenty of machining needed so $$$

[DanTurboLancer]

I actually have a Commadore ute diff that I can get cut down and get an LSD centre for no probs, plus it has stronger axles.

But i was hoping not to have to goto the trouble and hoping to keep it lighter.

I know it makes more sense to put in a bigger much stronger diff but the extra cost of redrilling Axle and disks stud pattern, shortening axles, remaking hand brake cables etc, would have prefered to avoid it.

And no I havent called a dealer direct yet, thought i would just ask if anyone knew if they were a common Mitsu diff so that when i said LA lancer they didnt ask 'A what" like everyone else does lol.

was hoping they were the same as other cars like Galant or Sigma that are commonly known and played with.

[HoonBoy]

How much power are you putting out? The stock diff is not always the best option. Commo diffs are OK as long as you don't go for a high revving engine and want diff gears to match. 4.1:1 is the best you can get factory.

I really should pull the 4.2:1 LSD centre out of my LA diff and sell it sometime soon...

[Mr Aerospace]

Hmm...hoonboy, do you mean a standard one? or are you mixing the "works" 4.625 up?

[HoonBoy]

No confusion, it is what I said it is, "Works" LSD with 4.2:1 gears. I need something stronger with either 4.8:1 or 5.1:1 gears.

[Mr Aerospace]

hmmm...what happened to the 4.625 gearing then?

[Torana68]

.........there were at least two ratios available 4.2 and 4.6 (both used in std cars as well in differnt markets) forget the factory bits, they are old, they are hard to get, you cant get parts for them, leave them to colectors.
Roger

[kodos]

I really should pull the 4.2:1 LSD centre out of my LA diff and sell it sometime soon...

Yes you should

[DanTurboLancer]

I really should pull the 4.2:1 LSD centre out of my LA diff and sell it sometime soon...

Yes you should

HAHA i agree Kodos!

[stealth]

in the 8 bolt jap style diff ther are
3.89 open / std in la
4.22 open /std in la wagons
4.22 lsd / works diff out a73 or a72 dealer option
4.625 open and lsd factory works (so everyone tells me)
3.546 open / ge scorp and sigma
4.625lsd /front diff out of early L300 4x4 (but check its 8 bolt not 10 )
and at the end of the day the lsd is not that good as it cant hold the power
and breaks loose at pace anyway
put a borgy in it with a 28 spline and a spool at least you wont break axels
cheers stealth

[DanTurboLancer]

ok power out put is 250Hp

Ive already tried the Sigma diff, weled it, blew an axle,

I put in another sigma center and kept it open and it held out, but was bloody boring lol.
but to fit a sigma diff into a LA i need to get it cut down to fit,

in which case i may as well go the Commo diff again....

Thanks for all those options though, as you said they probably arent the best as factory options and wont work that great anyway.

Shortened commo diff here I come!



What is the A72 and A73????

[stealth]

yeah i run a borg warner 28 spline but ford stud pattern in my v6 lancer (306kw at wheel)
and have had no dramas at all and you can get 31 spline.
your lancer is a a72 look on the firewall at your chassis no some lancers
are a73 BUT very rare and mostly 2dr thay are a lightweight body shell ment for
racing use by mitsi factory but were sold off when not used
either way at 250hp the 8 bolt is useless to you
cheers stealth

[Sideshow]

gh scorp diff and flares. thats all thats on the cards to do with mine. and if i can ever be bothered doing it i'll have a la diff lsd 4.22:1 gh sigma discs for sale. again i said i was going to do this over a year ago, but i'll have my engine back soon, so i'll have to do something about it soon.

[davetrees]

your lancer is a a72 look on the firewall at your chassis no some lancers
are a73 BUT very rare and mostly 2dr thay are a lightweight body shell ment for
racing use by mitsi factory but were sold off when not used

A71 = Lancer 1200
A72 = Lancer 1400
A73 = Lancer 1600

.... no more, no less - it's just the model designation (like a 1600 Galant is an A53). Any Lancer that came from the factory with a 4G32 is an A73 - whether 2 door or 4 door. Even the 1600GSR is still an A73. They aren't special shells either.

They aren't rare at all in terms of overall production numbers, they just weren't sold in Australia. I think all the ones we got were A72s ... I've never seen an A71 here ?

[stealth]

good stuff this makes sense but the shells are different from
LA1 to LA2 and A73
ive got one of each and there different
and a A72 shell weights 17kg more than A73
cheers stealth

[davetrees]

good stuff this makes sense but the shells are different from
LA1 to LA2 and A73
ive got one of each and there different
and a A72 shell weights 17kg more than A73

Differences between model years / markets / trim levels, perhaps ? That wouldn't be unusual - I have struck that with other cars (and the manufacturer's specs can quote different weights for the "same" car in different documents). Even things like the thickness of the glass in the windows, amount of sound deadener, etc can vary from country to country for some makes/models. When I was playing around with old Volvos, there were certainly differences between the locally assembled & fully imported cars.

Looking at the FIA Group 1 Homologation papers for the A73 (1600), the weights are given as :
- 775kg for the "base" A73 2 door & 800kg for the 4 door
- 850kg / 870kg for the twincarb (GSR) 2 / 4 door
- 840kg / 860kg for the "LB" 2 / 4 door (which is just a facelift, same model designation)

.... and these might not accurately reflect the actual weights of cars off the production line anyway. Probably the only way to know for sure would be to compare the shells for a A71/A72/A73 that came out of the same factory at around the same time .... & I reckon they would be close to identical prior to having the engines, interior, trim, etc fitted.

That said, I guess it wouldn't be unusual for bodyshells destined for the factory rally team to get special treatment on the production line either .... with various superfluous brackets deleted, extra welds here & there, etc ? (Like the "works" Datsun Stanzas ... they don't have chassis numbers, because the shells were pulled off the production line prior to that stage apparently !)

[stealth]

back in early 1990s i had two la coupes one was a A73 and the other A72
both were 7/1974 build dates and were two cars apart of the production
line thay were both group g with log books and the guy i got them off told
me he got them from works team had reiceipts and everything
anyway the story im getting at is that i rebuit/restored both off these cars back
to there former glory and there were many differences
eg welds in different places,different renforcment panels,holes in everything
different firewall panel trans tunnel,mount for tail shaft loop witch was on
A73 ,leaf spring hangers in different spot and bush dia and mounts for fuel tank
in boot
the A73 weighed 848kg complete the A72 was 865kg with webers and cage
now i have another A73 coupe but is 76model and is very similar BUT different
to my two A72 four doors
cheers stealth

[Torana68]

[quote="stealth"]back in early 1990s i had two la coupes one was a A73 and the other A72
both were 7/1974 build dates
? howd you work out that the build date was 7/74 on the A73, did it have a ADR plate? the works cars were not imported by Chrysler/Mitsubishi and would not have had ADR compliance (same with privateer Lancer/Galant Rally cars from Japan)

eg welds in different places,different renforcment panels,holes in everything
different firewall panel trans tunnel,mount for tail shaft loop witch was on
A73 ,leaf spring hangers in different spot and bush dia and mounts for fuel tank
in boot
The Sports Kit springs used different dia bushes but they fit the std car as well without modification, same length spring, no differnt mounting required. A lot of that sounds like its been done by owners down the track, Group G allowed nearly anything to be modified, the panels for all LA/A71/A72/A73 are all the same no different numbers for anything (excepting where an extra bracket or no bracket was part of higher spec cars, no actual difference , for example the bumper bars for a GSR have a different number but thats just because they have holes for the rubber buffer things GSR's have),

There is no difference in anything or the works sports kit parts wouldnt have been able to be fitted to any Lancer without modification. The factory cars from '73 to at least '77 were dead stock (stock plus Sports kit and little rally extra bits) , they then had some mods for more HP but thats about all, by the time Group G was big the factory had given up on Rallying Lancers, The factory ones were pretty true to the parts book, no hole drilling no weird bits. Not all the Factory cars started out as GSR's either.... any Lancer could be converted to full works spec just by the addition of the Sports Kit (see Racing Car News road test of a works Lancer)
Roger

[stealth]

two ways one is its written in chalk on the back of your dash if your lucky
and the original receipts had the order and build date the A73 had homologation
papers for group 1 and then went on to be a group g it was all geniune all
numbers matching and i sold them to a guy in kenya who races them in classic
rally over there
sweet
cheers stealth

[davetrees]

That sounds right Stealth. You would expect a works-prepared shell to have some additional strengthening etc. I'd lay odds that the factory prepared rally cars weren't just a stock Lancer with the sports option kit bolted on ! (especially the Safari cars ... a hell of a lot of preparation would have gone into them, which of course is partly why they were so successful - they were never the fastest thing around).

Just out of interest, where did he get them from ? Must have imported them from Japan I guess, because all the factory rally cars back then had to be re-exported due to customs requirements (and if the "urban myth" is true, a couple of the works Datsun 710s were "exported" to the bottom of Bass Strait after having all the good bits stripped out of them )

[davetrees]

? howd you work out that the build date was 7/74 on the A73, did it have a ADR plate?

I would imagine they would still have a Japanese build plate though ....

[Torana68]

I dont know anything about the Safari cars but the Southern Cross ones had nothing extra. This is from the guys who serviced them in Australia, not my guess at what was going on, my ex cross car has none either! Unfortunately there isnt a Japanese build plate , just the chassis number.

and the original receipts had the order and build date

thats always handy!!

i sold them to a guy in kenya who races them in classic rally over there

so why sell it? and any photos???
Roger

[stealth]

when i sold them i was to scared to keep rallying in them and figured thay
were to cool to turn into road cars so i advertised them through the guys
and someone knew someone and so on,i wanted 10grand each so old mate
talked me down to $17000 i thought i could live with that.i put the two into
a container and when the money cleared it was in US heh heh.
lucky that i did sell them as about three years later my shed burnt to the
ground (damm bushfires)
cheers stealth

[HoonBoy]

I've removed my 4.22:1 LSD ready for sale. It was checked over by Craft diffs a few years ago and they said to bring it back to get it tightened up after a couple of events, so it is probably due for that.

Feel free to throw huge offers my way

[kodos]

PM sent on BMSC

[HoonBoy]

For anyone else interested, bidding is at $700

[HoonBoy]

Started to get lost with the bids, so I've moved it to ebay starting at less then what the highest bid was..

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... 0323328728

[kodos]

Missed out again God damn it.
I must be destined not to have a 4.2 in my GTO