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Rear End swap....

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terriphill

Darth Vader
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OK, We want to swap the rear end out to allow us to mount the wire wheels on the 80 B. Here's the problem....what agout the sway bart on the 80. There was not a sway bar mount on rear end we removed from the 77 B. Will these rear ends swap? 4 pics. The 1st two are the rear axle we removed with the hubs needed to mount the wire wheels. The 2nd 2 are the axle on the 80 B with pics of the sway bar asssembly that I don't see on the other axle.
 

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If you want a sway bar but don't have the mounts for it on the axle you want to use, you will have to weld some mounts. Other than that there should be no problem swapping rear ends.
 
Why would adding an Sway Bar to a CB car be problematic for the steering if the later cars had it as standard? Were the later cars front ends designed differently?
 
Remember, the RB cars had an increased ride height of 1-1/2"....effectively raising the center of gravity somewhat.

The rear anti-sway bar was added as standard to all MGBs in June 1976....I would think that your w/w axle would have these mounting points if it were from a 6/76 or later MGB. Perhaps your axle is older than that (and not original to your 1977 MGB).
 
I would say correct since the 77's didn't have the wire wheels as I recall. I assume that whoever added the wire wheels to the 77 swapped the axle then. It did not have a rear sway bar on it either when we dropped it.
I guess my question really is....does this really matter? Can I switch rear ends, not install a rear sway bar and be OK as long as its just normal driving (very little interstate--country roads and around town)
-or-
should we weld the sway bar mounts to the "new axle" and install the sway bar because it will be unsafe to drive it otherwise.
 
W/W were an option on the R/B MGB....

Yes....you can switch...

Yes....you will be safe with "nrmal" driving.
 
If the car is lowered to CB height then you probably don't need the rear bar. I've heard reports of mounting bars to CB cars, but not of taking them off RB cars that have been lowered. Therefore I can't offer any advise on what to expect!
 
Bar was added when they had to stick the car up in the air another two inches, for stability. IMO it would be ~too~ harsh/stiff on a CB car at "normal" ride height, with normal driving.
 
So I thought which is why I am not going to go with that mod.
 
You're 80 should be ok without a rear sway bar... even under spirited driving. My '76 came stock without any sway bars, but I've since lowered the car and added a 5/8" front bar. The car handles fine without a rear bar, and I like going on spirited drives in the mountains. /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/smile.gif
 
Just cut the mounts off the other rear end & weld them onto yours!
 
OK...here's the solution we came up with that allows us to have the wire wheels AND keep he sway bar which I think must be needed or they wouldn't have installed it. 2 inches may not seem like much but I don't need the rear end getting squirrely in corners and unlike Alan I didn't get a MIG welder for Christmas which makes welding the mounts to the older rear end kinda difficult.
We swapped the axles but kept the rear end (DUH!) It actually was a lot easier too. THe axles are the same length so we just pulled them from the 77 rear end and swapped em out. Now,the Wire wheels fit and we still have the sway bar.
Any ideas or opinions about this maneuver are appreciated
 
Wait, you put wire wheel axle shafts into a steel wheel axle tube? That shouldn't work. They are different lengths. Wire wheel axle tubes are 2" shorter than steel ones.
 
Terri, the axle shafts may be the same length, but I'm pretty sure the W/W axle housing is narrower. If so, you won't have full engagement of the axle splines in the diff, and you may have tire interference with the fender well.
I'm sure more knowledgeable people will be along shortly to tell me I'm full of it! /bcforum/images/%%GRAEMLIN_URL%%/grin.gif

Jeff
 
Not these, we measured them and they are exactly the same length.
 
No interference with the fender wells. We checked this already.
 
We did. They are the exact same length. Same everything except the wheel hub on the end. One has the wire wheel hubs the other has the hubs for standard wheels. Mounted them and when you spin the wheel they both spin.
 
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