Will a VL commodore diff fit a vk

[the_boozer]

Will a VL commodore diff fit a vk.
Can I get a diff from a vl and use it in a vk ? In a sedan what tail shaft would I need?

[vh-sle]

Yes it will fit, no mods required to the diff or the car and you will need the rear half of a VL tailshaft. From a wheel offset point of view they are 6mm wider each side.

[DANNY8]

If it's a 202 VK, the rear half of the VL tailshaft won't bolt up to the front of urs. But if u have a borg warner diff under it already (some vk's did), well ya won't need to change ya tailshaft. If not, a vk borg warner tailshaft is the way to go.

[VK_3800]

^ The rear half of the VL drive shaft should bolt up to the front half of the VK one, why do you say that?

The EFI sixes had the Borg Warner and this driveshaft will bolt straight up, it also has bigger unis than earlier sixes. There is a small difference in the VK BW diff centre offset compared to VL but doesn't move things over too much. The difference in total width is only the difference between drum and disc brakes.

[DANNY8]

^ The rear half of the VL drive shaft should bolt up to the front half of the VK one, why do you say that?

I tried it and the VL tailshaft was slightly larger in diameter and the holes wouldn't line up.

The EFI sixes had the Borg Warner and this driveshaft will bolt straight up, it also has bigger unis than earlier sixes. There is a small difference in the VK BW diff centre offset compared to VL but doesn't move things over too much. The difference in total width is only the difference between drum and disc brakes.

Not all EFI 202's had borgy's. A mate's VK Calais EFI 202 had an 8 bolt Salisbury under it, was the original diff. Also I've seen carby VK's with borgy's....I think it depends on the build date as the later VK's went to the borgy's I rekon.

[VK_3800]

I tried it and the VL tailshaft was slightly larger in diameter and the holes wouldn't line up.

Interesting

Not all EFI 202's had borgy's. A mate's VK Calais EFI 202 had an 8 bolt Salisbury under it, was the original diff. Also I've seen carby VK's with borgy's....I think it depends on the build date as the later VK's went to the borgy's I rekon.

Never seen any of that here, but NZ did seem to get different models around that era. I've never seen a VK 1/2 six without both EFI and the BW rear, but the 4 cylinder models still had the Salisbury.

[VK SL 3800]

My understanding is all early standard Vks have the 8 bolt salisbury, later ones 1985 onwards im pretty sure it is, have borgwarners in the sixes, not sure about v8s but im thinking borgys as well. The standard Vk 6 has a smaller diameter tailshaft then V8s, they have the larger diameter ones- same diameter as VL and VN VP etc, but the flange on the diff is the same for all model borgwarners so reagrdless of shaft diameter it will bolt to the diff obviously providing that the shaft is for a borgy.

So you can Bolt a Vl Rb30 shaft to a VB-VK v8 shaft but not 6cyl. (although have heard that some EFI 6s have the larger shaft too)
Or in the original question, you can bolt a VK N/a shaft to a VL diff, but your car already has to have had a borgy under it, otherwise you have to get your self a rear Vl shaft if its a V8 or late Vk 6cyl model if its a 6.

[VK_3800]

Not the diameter of the shaft, just the uni size. And yes the EFI six had the big unis, so that's probably it - I just thought that all the centre joints were the same size but obviously not quite.

[VK SL 3800]

Well to be honest i have never measured the shafts themselves only the uni, so i assumed that the shaft would be marginally larger as well otherwise whats the point of a bigger uni. Could be a weak spot im guessing then so they made it larger?

[202injected]

the larger shaft was on the Manual carby cVK's and the EFI VK's for stength, although the EFI's where available auto only they had more power and torque than a 253 so holden used the V8 sized shaft.

As for the diffs early vk's had the Salisbury and later had the BW, but this only applied to 6's, as the V8s all had salisbury's and the brocks had the big 10 bolt. Which was what i had behind the blown efi 6 and celica box

if you cant find a shaft to match when swapping you vk for a vl diff, just use the complete VL shaft and swap the slip yoke at the uni, i am pretty sure they used the same uni joint.

[VK_3800]

Well to be honest i have never measured the shafts themselves only the uni, so i assumed that the shaft would be marginally larger as well otherwise whats the point of a bigger uni. Could be a weak spot im guessing then so they made it larger?

Yep, go back to HQ and earlier and you'll find the V8s had the same driveshafts but with bigger unis, a bit more robust

[5LTR_EATER]

i have a vl 3.45 diff in my vk, its easy, as the first comment take the rear part of a vl tail shaft ( the part that comes off with alen keys ) the put that on the vk instead, the match plate is round for vl's so the end of the tail shaft needs too match the diff, just swap the two ends of the tail shaft and put the diff right in.