Finally got the Halibrand 301 apart today. No cracks anywhere, the ring and pinion are in good condition and now it just needs a deep cleaning before it gets re***embled. A pair of Halibrand magnesium side plates, the originals, are in the mail heading my way. The ring and pinion are 9 and 37 tooth, 4.11:1. And I need to decide on what differential to use. With the p***ing of Bruce, GearheadsQCE, there’s a void in our knowledge base, which is a huge loss for the community. Hopefully someone else has the insight and experience building rear axles. So, a few items. 1-Bruce’s thread about quick changes (qc for short) he showed us a Winters Track that he remachined for use with his side plates, which if I remember correctly, were patterned on the original Halibrand side plates. Has anyone got the information on the specific model to use? And what side bearings are required? 2-Here’s the only casting data on the center section. I have not found any other numbers or text that indicates what year it was manufactured. I flipped it over and looked inside, outside, top and bottom, nothing. Is this enough to make an educated guess on what generation it is? 3-The side plates coming are drilled and tapped for the Halibrand fabricated side tubes that bolted on the smaller diameter flat of the plate. If anyone has a set of these bolt on tubes, I would be interested in seeing pictures at the minimum, and if they are available to buy, I would appreciate any offers. I have looked into DPI side tubes, however I don’t know if they are the correct diameter to fit the Halibrand bolt circle. The other option of course is to finish drilling and tapping the larger bolt pattern and use Ford side bells. 4-here’s the rear cover. Also no indication of its age. A little bit of its history to the best of my knowledge. It was probably used under an older sprinter or supermodified, with a bit of offset, about 6 inches. It may have been even more, as the right side was cut welded back together and had an inner sleeve for alignment and strength. It’s got tapered axle ends and has 6-pin knock offs , so stuck on the tapers that I had to cut the axle to be able to dis***emble the center section. Not a problem as I’m converting it to closed tube axles. This was an interesting component for an open tube rear, an open driveline. Again I believe that it had a torque arm sort of typical for some supers. So, all help is appreciated. If you, or someone you know, can help, let me know. This axle will take some time to finish. I’ll try to update anytime I make some headway.
I've got a 301 Halibrand running early Ford bells using the original adapter/side plates and 8" axles and brakes which was built for me by @ronnieroadster. I think the cast info on both the main housing and rear cover plate is different but I will check it out later. You could PM Ron if my set-up is similar to what you are planning.
Put a 301 together using a Diamond Trac differential (Quickchange Exchange) found on eBay. Same adapters to Early Ford bells converted to big Torino bearing ends, Halibrand disc brakes, 31-spline Ford axles modified by Dutchman to accept Halibrand knock-off hubs. What you're wanting to do is easy in comparison, so it can be done!
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