1979 320i half-shaft CV joint dilema

[jerry]

well, i considered myself rather lucky when i found a limited slip differential hiding under a 1979 320i at the local picknpull. i thought it was especially fortunate because this car was a '79 and per the FAQ topic on swapping differentials this particular year car has 'thicker' CV joints which are supposed to make the swap straight-forward without the need for 'spacers'.

i pulled all four CV joints off the half shafts and brought them home. guess what.... they are EXACTLY the same size as any other 320i CV joint i have. WTF, the door plate stated this was a 79 vintage 320i.

does the thicker CV joints on '79s ONLY apply to normal differentials????

i'm a bit pissed cuz i've always thought that picknpull charged way too much for these half shafts, $40/each. by splitting them up i still paid $12/CV, and it appears that i STILL will have to buy a set of spacers.

[john_a]

i pulled all four CV joints off the half shafts and brought them home. guess what.... they are EXACTLY the same size as any other 320i CV joint i have. WTF, the door plate stated this was a 79 vintage 320i.

The production dates for the correct "1979" CV joints run from 8/78 thru 8/79. These CV's are just the same thickness as a late 02, except have M10 bolts.

Your yard-find CV joints probably came from a car built Sept 79 or later, if they had M10 bolts and were thinner than 02 CV joints.

If they were exactly like 2002 parts (with M8 bolts), they were from before 8/78.

[jerry]

thanks.

that's a minor detail that wasn't clear to me.

arghhhhhhhh

whoda thunked it???

[granth]

The cv from the 320i has the same thickness as an 02 cv. So you need to put one cv from the 320i (10m) on end of the half shaft and one from the 2002 (8m)on the other end. With the inner cv being the 320i cv and the outer cv from the 02? It should bolt right assuming you have the correct half shaft from the 320i.

Is that correct?

thanks

grant

[Guest Anonymous]

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