biffy1984 Posted July 5, 2019 Share Posted July 5, 2019 (edited) Can anyone tell me the differences between the 2? I believe the A series axle is an inch narrower, can anyone confirm this? Also, what diff fits in the A series axle? Can a 2 litre or 1.8 B series diff fit in an A series casing? Edited July 5, 2019 by biffy1984 Typo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shug Posted July 5, 2019 Share Posted July 5, 2019 (edited) A series is 5 cm narrower i think. I have a b axle in my A. Had to turn up shock absorber stiffness if i have much in the boot or the tyre can rub on arch if you hit a bump. Width aside, the axles are identical. (Except the 1.6N and smalled engined cars which had a different smaller axle) Edited July 5, 2019 by Shug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biffy1984 Posted July 5, 2019 Author Share Posted July 5, 2019 35 minutes ago, Shug said: A series is 5 cm narrower i think. I have a b axle in my A. Had to turn up shock absorber stiffness if i have much in the boot or the tyre can rub on arch if you hit a bump. Width aside, the axles are identical. (Except the 1.6N and smalled engined cars which had a different smaller axle) Oh perfect, A series axle is exactly what I need then! I need a narrower axle so the 9 inch back wheels can still turn should I burst an airbag👍🏻 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mantasrme Posted July 8, 2019 Share Posted July 8, 2019 As shug says they are the same design just with different length tubes and halfshafts, think its 55mm difference from memory. Damper mounts and trailing arm brackets are in the same place so that all lines up perfectly, can't remember if the panhard rod does though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
®evo03 Posted July 10, 2019 Share Posted July 10, 2019 Am i right in saying you could essentially fit a A series axle to a standard or 400 kitted manta or ascona, cav! And run ridiculous offset! Surprised no one has done it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biffy1984 Posted March 31, 2020 Author Share Posted March 31, 2020 On 10/07/2019 at 18:25, ®evo03 said: Am i right in saying you could essentially fit a A series axle to a standard or 400 kitted manta or ascona, cav! And run ridiculous offset! Surprised no one has done it! That’s what I’m doing at the moment, in the middle of fitting an A series axle so I can get 16x9 et0 on the back. Will see how it goes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTEPETE Posted April 1, 2020 Share Posted April 1, 2020 biffy1984 do you have a photograph of the two axles side by side? Wondering if the manta a mountings correspond to the manta b axle...plus as a bonus the a has a stronger steel torque tube... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rutts Posted April 1, 2020 Share Posted April 1, 2020 Of you require a new steel torque tube go to krause germany online £90. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biffy1984 Posted April 1, 2020 Author Share Posted April 1, 2020 9 hours ago, GTEPETE said: biffy1984 do you have a photograph of the two axles side by side? Wondering if the manta a mountings correspond to the manta b axle...plus as a bonus the a has a stronger steel torque tube... I don’t have a photo but it’s in with my 1.8 LSD so it all fits. All mountings in exactly the same place, only difference is shorter tubes and halfshafts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biffy1984 Posted April 2, 2020 Author Share Posted April 2, 2020 (edited) Caliper is a little closer to the shock but still plenty of clearance. I’m quite happy with the result anyway. Although if I was to keep these wheels on I think I’d run 10mm spacers on the back as the wheels now look a bit too far in. My new wheels should fill the arches out perfectly. Edited April 2, 2020 by biffy1984 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 Clearance looks comparable to a lot of oem fits these days mate, don’t think you have any worries there. what wheels you changing to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biffy1984 Posted April 2, 2020 Author Share Posted April 2, 2020 2 hours ago, Jessopia74 said: Clearance looks comparable to a lot of oem fits these days mate, don’t think you have any worries there. what wheels you changing to? Just fitted them this afternoon, put the tyres off the borbets which I thought would work fine but turns out the fronts are too fat and will rub the wings so I’ll have to order narrower ones☹️Wheels are 7twenty style 44’s, 16x9 et0 and 16x8 et0, not sure about the colour but we can easy sort that. I quite like the aggressive look! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bris jas Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 Aggresive look works for me, how did you get on fitting the air ride front and back? I'm guessing it wasn't an off the shelf kit also i'll be ordering some custom wheels soon, where did you get yours from? I've been looking at Image wheels as they do a lot of 3 pieces and after speaking to them they mentioned if i get the off sets wrong its pretty straight forward to swap around, of course that won't be free! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted April 2, 2020 Share Posted April 2, 2020 Yeah nice deep dish on rears 👍 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biffy1984 Posted April 2, 2020 Author Share Posted April 2, 2020 2 hours ago, bris jas said: Aggresive look works for me, how did you get on fitting the air ride front and back? I'm guessing it wasn't an off the shelf kit also i'll be ordering some custom wheels soon, where did you get yours from? I've been looking at Image wheels as they do a lot of 3 pieces and after speaking to them they mentioned if i get the off sets wrong its pretty straight forward to swap around, of course that won't be free! The air ride was a piece of piss to fit, just replace the springs with airbags. A few tweaks involved of course, had to cut away the front bumpstops and drill a few holes or mounting etc but generally no bother at all. The management was more of a pain tbh. It was a custom made kit from a company in Croatia, there are another 2 Mantas that I know of with the same kit so they will obviously make them to order. Wheels came through Auto Extreme, although these wheels have now been discontinued so these are a mismatched set with slight defects (paint imperfections) so couldn’t be sold from the factory. I like the look of a lot of the image wheels, they’re just bloody expensive! But any split rims are. If you want any info on sizes and offsets pm me and I’ll happily share all the info I know, I’ve had various sets on this car, before and after the air was fitted and have looked into offsets no end for years👍🏻 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted April 3, 2020 Share Posted April 3, 2020 Impressed you seem to have got away with ET0 at all. In the market for some new rims for my silver coupe now, was going to pay to have the MG ones refurbished, but they are not perfect for what I want. I do like the look of the multispoke, but I want an edge on the rim to polish up like the GTE exclusive alloys are. whats the widest rears we can fit without needing rear arch lips to be rolled? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biffy1984 Posted April 3, 2020 Author Share Posted April 3, 2020 3 hours ago, Jessopia74 said: Impressed you seem to have got away with ET0 at all. In the market for some new rims for my silver coupe now, was going to pay to have the MG ones refurbished, but they are not perfect for what I want. I do like the look of the multispoke, but I want an edge on the rim to polish up like the GTE exclusive alloys are. whats the widest rears we can fit without needing rear arch lips to be rolled? See my back arches are rolled and I cut the lips on the front wings clean off so wouldn’t like to say for a car with standard arches tbh. Also depends if your car is lowered, you will then need an adjustable panhard rod. Mine before the air ride with 60mm springs I could get 16x9 et15 on the back with no scrubbing at all but like I say that’s with rolled arches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted April 3, 2020 Share Posted April 3, 2020 That’s still wider than I expected, so 8.5” would fit without rolling, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biffy1984 Posted April 3, 2020 Author Share Posted April 3, 2020 12 minutes ago, Jessopia74 said: That’s still wider than I expected, so 8.5” would fit without rolling, thanks. Don’t know if I’d chance 8.5’s unless you’re willing to roll the arches, pity to get a set for them not to fit. I’d probably try 8’s et20 max with a 195 tyre to be safe. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bris jas Posted April 3, 2020 Share Posted April 3, 2020 17 hours ago, biffy1984 said: The air ride was a piece of piss to fit, just replace the springs with airbags. A few tweaks involved of course, had to cut away the front bumpstops and drill a few holes or mounting etc but generally no bother at all. The management was more of a pain tbh. It was a custom made kit from a company in Croatia, there are another 2 Mantas that I know of with the same kit so they will obviously make them to order. Wheels came through Auto Extreme, although these wheels have now been discontinued so these are a mismatched set with slight defects (paint imperfections) so couldn’t be sold from the factory. I like the look of a lot of the image wheels, they’re just bloody expensive! But any split rims are. If you want any info on sizes and offsets pm me and I’ll happily share all the info I know, I’ve had various sets on this car, before and after the air was fitted and have looked into offsets no end for years👍🏻 Thanks for the offer, i'm currently building a 400r but running a Volvo 240 rear axle so not sure how it compares to the manta A axle until i start measuring. Have you ever worked on offsets on a kitted Manta? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted April 3, 2020 Share Posted April 3, 2020 1 hour ago, biffy1984 said: Don’t know if I’d chance 8.5’s unless you’re willing to roll the arches, pity to get a set for them not to fit. I’d probably try 8’s et20 max with a 195 tyre to be safe. I have 225 on rear of the silver coupe already, 215 front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biffy1984 Posted April 3, 2020 Author Share Posted April 3, 2020 2 hours ago, bris jas said: Thanks for the offer, i'm currently building a 400r but running a Volvo 240 rear axle so not sure how it compares to the manta A axle until i start measuring. Have you ever worked on offsets on a kitted Manta? Ah cool, no just the narrow body I’m afraid, sure you could get some pretty extreme offset wheels under the 400 arches though👌🏻 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biffy1984 Posted April 3, 2020 Author Share Posted April 3, 2020 4 hours ago, Jessopia74 said: I have 225 on rear of the silver coupe already, 215 front. Your wheels must be a fairly high positive offset are they? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessopia74 Posted April 3, 2020 Share Posted April 3, 2020 20 minutes ago, biffy1984 said: Your wheels must be a fairly high positive offset are they? Not sure, they are MGZR alloys with spacers. Offset according to web search is 45, so I probably have 25mm spacers, can’t remember exactly. Shell studs are extra long. It’s what came with the black coupe I purchased. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GTEPETE Posted September 24, 2022 Share Posted September 24, 2022 Looks good with deep dished rear wheels... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.