Changing out the differential on the corvette is a bit of a pain, due to the way the drive train in designed. The rear suspension is an independent mono leaf spring design. Meaning, the differential is solidly mounded to the chassis and the rear is supported by one leaf spring.
The swap took about 8 hours to do, it had been the first time the rear had been pulled apart since installing it all 6 months ago. I was able to see how the new bushings were wearing and noted which stock hardware needs to be replaced before the car sees the open road.
You can see how everything is interconnected, making it a chore to change this out.
Since the differential cover is used to mount the whole unit to the frame, there is no easy way to drain the oil out while still being in the car. So the next best way was on the work bench.
The stock gears have somewhere around 100k miles on them, upon inspection they showed a good wear pattern. All of the bearings were turning free and no strange noises were found, but it was time for a much needed upgrade.
The axles are held in with c clips inside the carrier, they are easily removed with the right tool. Which I found out I didn't have and had to run to the parts store.
The new housing and cover were cleaned and shmeered with rtv, then a new gasket was applied and all bolts tightened down.
The blue rtv also matches the blue theme going on around and in the car.
By 6pm the car was ready for a test drive.
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