fair enough open diff is nice im glad im seeing the advantages and disadvantages of each

so with the plan to lower my ovlov ive been planning a side exit, i gets rid of all that weight at the back and is quite cool IMO.
To get that extra bit of clearance i was thinking of cutting away some of the chassis to make a gap for the zorst then welding a plate in the area i cut away. But before i do any thing drastic i'd like some opinions and advice, heres pic's of the plan.

i couldn't find any pics of anyone doing something similar, is it because its a bad idea ?

you definatly don't want to cut the chassis beam there, as that piece is the strength of the front leafspring mounting. it's quite easy to rout the exhaust pipe underneath that beam without it getting in the way.

As Anjo said, thats a direct load path for the leaf spring!

i did know that but i wasn't sure it was that important, so i guess i won't be going that route, thanks for the advice guys.

Had some fun drifting!! i had a little play after finishing work at midnight in a rainy car park and on some quite backroads, donuts were a little tricky but u-turn drifts were brill! still getting used to it.
i'd like to attend a DWYB some time!

a few videos of myself
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kH2SiewF3Sw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81pX6KL71rs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1ihtGHj7zY

Ghetto hydraulics!

last night i was driving to birmingham with 3 mates to a halloween party and my gearbox died, well the only gear i could access was forth, and when in other gears the engine just revved so i drove 25 miles back home slipping the clutch.
(still made it to the party..£15 there £20 back)
so i'll be dismantling and possibly looking for a new gearbox.
my first thought was that a bit of weld has flaked off the diff and wreaked something, any thoughts?

Diff unit is separate so very unlikely that the diff would have effected it (unless it exploded and penetrated the dividing wall ). It could just be that your gear linkage has come loose. Other than that yeah it could be that you've shredded something in the box. It's unlikely that would just "happen" though, you'd have to be giving it some real beans before it made some bad noises.

My money's on gear linkage.

Thanks alot for the reply speedy thats put my mind at ease, i'll have to take a look, and take some pics of the problem.

Hello mate. I run a welded diff on my 360 and it's in daily use. No issues at all except for slight annoyance factor/chirp that comes when tackling pigeon shit roundabouts, 90 deg turns and parking lol. I'm sure you can agree that the positives far outweigh the negatives though!

Sorry to hear about the gear selection issues. It makes me wonder what's gone wrong, as I give my 360 a fair bit of abuse and it always comes back for more* Had the diff welded for about 18 months now and I havent had any nasty noises or issues like you, plus as Speedy says, the diff is seperate from the 'box. My money would be on linkage also if the single gear only scenario came about without 'spirited' driving and/or any nasty noises! lol

Get it fixed and have some fun!

*famous last words

If your diff was bust you'd have no gears at all surely? My money is on the gear linkage tabs rusting off the torque tube, not a very easy fix if it's that.

thanks for the replies guys i was talking to a mechanic i used to do bits of welding for and he said that as 4th is usually straight through it could be a broken lay shaft, i had a vague idea of what he meant and if it is, it not going to be an easy fix either. the good news is that someone has offered me a gearbox on the forum
i havn't had much chance to get the old off yet being too busy at work but hopefully my 360 will be back on the road december time... for all the snow and rain!!

sorry guys and gyals, after alot of thought, im getting rid of the old girl, though i never got around to actually seeing my gearbox, alot of things have not gone to plan and im not in an ideal situation money and job wise. it has been a pleasure being on the forum, and i think you all make it great.
i have loved driving my volvo and i am really sad to have to do this.
i haven't had any other thoughts car wise, IMO it's pointless having something powerful unless its RWD, it'll take something special to replace my volvo (maybe another one in the future)
i plan to buy a 125 motorbike and run that around in the time being.