Surfer69

Something gave out and locked up inside my diff yesterday and I had the car towed. I was only a block from the house. I knew it was coming since my yokes were all loose and the tires tilted a bit but I was hoping to make it through the winter. Oh well.

Today I am trying to remove the diff but have a question. Can you leave the back cover attached to the car and just take out the forward main diff only? The back cover holds the composite spring and attaches to some cross member that looks like a beach to get to since you have to go above it blindly to get to the four bolts that also hold the cover. THX

...Roger...

Some do do it that way.

Artsvette73

Remove the diff as a unit. The crossmember will come down with the diff. Then romove the top bolts

Gordonm

Just remove the 2 crossmember bolts and the front diff mount and lower the whole assembly. This is way easier than trying to get the cover off in the car.

Surfer69

Cool. I didnt study the cross member yet but if you say it will drop as a unit then that's what I'll try. Got my thumb in a cup of ice water after the half shaft dropped and sandwiched it between the strut. Ouch.

Just got the exhaust out of the way. Half shafts are out. Now on to the strut rod brace on the bottom. Might need you guys later. THX

Just remembered, the whole point of this question is I wanted to avoid touching the composite spring. So now you are saying if I bring the whole thing down as a unit I have to take off the composite spring first, right?

Gordonm

I would take the spring off to avoid any damage to it. The spring comes off with 4 bolts. Not a big deal to take off. Be prepaired for a little fight on the outer "sombreros". They can be stuck. I just took a set off a 77 this past weekend and needed a 6 foot bar to pry them off. They can be stubborn. Leave the bolt loose in there while trying to pop them so it does not come crashing down. Once they pop and you will know when they go support it and remove the bolts and lower the assembly.

Surfer69

I'm stuck.

Got everything off. Spring was really no big deal after all. Took the two bolts off from the ends of the crossmember but now the unit wont drop.

More like the crossmember wont drop. The two end bolts were really rusty but they did come out without breaking. Is there some trick to getting the crossmember unstuck? Is there more than two end bolts I need to worry about?

I don't want to pry the crossmember until I hear from someone here.

THX

...Roger...

The 2 end bolts is all that holds the crossmember but on each end is rubber, and it sticks.
You have to pry on it as Gordon said but I find if I put on constant pressure the rubber will finally give up and come loose.

wcsinx

Use a 2 or 3 jaw puller as big as you can get on there. Don't pry on it with a bar. That'll pull it off center and make the bushings bind up.

Surfer69

OK, I'll see if I have a spreader. Tried prying already and nothing is budging. Might just try for the top end of the four bolts if I cant get it undone. I'll spray some WD on the rubber too and see if that helps. Try again in the morning.

Gordonm

Put some penetrating oil on it and pry away. It will not be off center. It will pop. I have done this a bunch of times with no problems. I have 2 long pieces of pipe that I get in there and keep working at it. It will come loose. Problem with a puller you ahve to use such a big puller it won't fit in there. I have broken 2 smaller pullers trying this. Never had a problem prying.

...Roger...

The only problem I have when prying is when it lets loose.

wcsinx

If you're only prying 1 side, it will inherently pull the bushing off center and not straight down. It takes very little pressure to release those bushings using a puller. After hearing all the horror stories, I couldn't believe how easily mine popped loose. I cinched up a 3-jaw puller by hand, then twice around with an 8" wrench and *pop* out it came.

...Roger...

Put a wedge on the back side and pry on the front side will keep it from going off center.

Gordonm

When you do one on a rusty frame a puller will not do the job. My car actually popped off with a screwdriver. I have done a few with bad frames and it took a tremendous amount of force to pop them off.

...Roger...

Just to clarify,if you use a bar shorter than 6' keep your face away from the fender otherwise you'll be eating fiberglass.
That's been many years ago but I remember it like it was yesterday.

Surfer69

Tried prying some more after using oil, no help. My puller is just not wide enough to get around big end so I may go get a bigger one.

Just want to make sure I dont need to bend up the eight little tabs on the bottom circle by the bolt head on bottom of crossmember do I?

Wow what a PITA.

...Roger...

No.....

Surfer69

Just got a bigger puller for $11. Not bad. We'll give it a try here soon.

Called J&D Corvettes where I'm taking my diff to and they said same thing. Oil it up good "for a couple days" and it should drop. They just said make sure you dont bend frame.

Surfer69

Success!!

OK sinx is right. The puller is the way to go. I bought a 7/16 course bolt just long enough to bottom in the hole and have the head below crossmember bottom. Then I ground out a divot bowl in top of head for puller to grab. The trick is not letting the puller touch the sides of the crossmember otherwise the jaws just want to come off the edge.

There is a lot of force going on cause when it goes it's a big pop.

Thanks to everyone. You all are great!

Now hopefully I can get the four cover bolts out from the crossmember.