412 Diff Ratios/Gearing Upgrade

[peasantslife]

Greg, yes thank you for the link. There seem to be numerous threads out there describing what has been done before. It really does inspire me to go this way as launch and intermediate tractability is unaffected. I think I will ask my stateside bloodhounds to start a junk-yard search, but I wont be doing this work this year I suspect - too many other projects on the go and a working car is worth a garage full of unuseable projects!

You ask an interesting philosophical question. My take is - that it is my car for the moment, and I intend to keep it, and use it. A car for Life! So, if I change it to make it a more satisfying drive (for me), I may well use it more often. Accepting I will (undoubtedly) have to modify some bracketry to hang the box by, and cut the tunnel to clear, then providing it is clear what has been done, then reversal would potentially be possible, and fairly simple. Remember my car was not that far from being a breaker when I got it. I'm sure there are far more original 412's which have had a lifetime of cossetted ownership, where 'mods' may be less appropriate. And so to the future owner, they buy into the contract with the car 'as is' at point of sale, and will no doubt immediately launch into their own series of 'improvements'. People buy cars for the 'Image' not often for the engineering of function...

Am I out of step with this forum, in being prepared to suggest we can do better today than those who engineered our cars 30 something years ago? If so I apologise now.