UPDATE:

Pulled the diff out and cracked it open this evening...

Pinion gear has less teeth on it than a hooker at a truckstop in Barstow. Ring gear has a couple missing / damaged teeth, but not as bad. Endcaps are undamaged. I didn't play with it too much because I kept getting metal splinters in my fingers, but there does NOT actually appear to be play in the pinion, so I'm not sure why the teeth all broke off .

The Kaaz unit has a couple minor scratches on the outside of casing, but mechanically looks perfect. In fact, with 40k miles on it, the clutches look like they have A LOT of time left on them still! I don't know just what they look like new, but I think these are in pretty good shape. The tapered bearings on the kaaz look pristine.

Pretty much the only thing salvageable is the Kaaz unit, I think. I'm going to try to find a complete rear end off a wrecked car, buy fresh clutches for the Kaaz (since it's already out of the car, might as well get it ready for a long stint), and plop the Kaaz into that housing.

Last time I did a rebuild, I was changing all the bearings out, but if I'm just swapping the Kaaz in and getting rid of the torsen, will I still need to mess with the pinion gear setup? It should already be properly positioned and loaded so I can just adjust the preload and position of the diff/ring gear and be set, right?

BTW, I took lots of pics, I will post them tomorrow.

 

As long as you don't back the pinion nut off, you just need to check backlash and gear pattern.

 

Does anyone have a stock 4.10 ring/pinion they want to sell???

 

shoot me a PM, although if you shop around, you should be able to find them pretty cheap.

 

so you answered it yourself before teardown..its not your diff...its your ring and pinion...please change name of thread

 

CLICK HERE FOR MORE PICS.

I'll add more to the gallery tomorrow morning (tuesday) and then I'll have pics of the 04 diff housing on thursday.

 

looks like my pinion gear, i sheered about 1/4 of the teeth off. I can take a pic of it if you want (the shop that rebuilt my diff let me keep it). the material honda makes the pinion gear out of is too weak. my s2000 is bone stock and mine broke. don't get another honda 4.10 ring and pinion gear, you'll just eventually break it again. get a stronger one from rick hesel. a honda 4.10 ring and pinion gear is $515 from hondaautomotive parts. #9 on the diagram

http://www.hondaautomotiveparts.com/auto/j...AR+DIFFERENTIAL

 

I got a Honda ring/pinion from Slick Rick in a trade for my old casing, so it was a deal too good to pass up. I ordered all my Honda parts yesterday for a little over $650 ('04 housing, new bearings, new bolts, seals, etc.).

I spoke with Kaaz and they didn't know why I wanted new clutches with only 40k miles on the diff. I told them it sees a fair amount of track use and I figure I should replace them now while it's open, rather than waiting another 20-40k or so and having to crack it open again. They said in their experience the clutches just finally start getting to their sweet spot at 30-40k miles. They said even drift cars that get abused constantly go 70-80k miles without problems. They've never actually had to replace the clutches in a diff yet. The most they've had to do is rearrange them so the ones close to the side gears are at the outside of the housing and vice versa.

So I looked over my clutches more carefully and checked in the places where there should be a step from the wear. No step. The areas that have been used are polished looking, but there is absolutely no wear yet. In fact, some of the clutches don't even look fully broken in yet. So I rearranged them to spread out the "wear" and put it back together. That saved me $250~$300.

All that's left now is I need to buy a push/pull gauge. I see them pretty cheap on ebay, so I'll email some sellers today...

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by The Reverend
I got a Honda ring/pinion from Slick Rick in a trade for my old casing, so it was a deal too good to pass up.

 

Rev, how much is your car lowered in the back? Are you still running that extreme drop? You think that may have any effect on the diff? Maybe those Js spacers may be a bit of help.

If you do decide to take the ring and pinion and bearings out, shoot them over to me and i can cryo them for you.