Hi fellas,

I'm gutting the donor car for my Auto to 5 spd swap (83 GSL). I have stripped most of the car and am now just starting to get around to taking out the transmission components that I'll be needing for the swap. I've got the clutch master and slave cylinder out, and am now proceeding to pull off the transmission and driveshaft.

I was looking through the haynes manual and it says four bolts, drop the driveshaft and pull it out of the transmission. Easy enough. I drained the transmission, took off the four bolts, and pulled....... nothing. The freakin' driveshaft WILL NOT drop down like it shows in the manual. I've got it soaking in oil overnight thinking that it might be rusted on. Right now I"m looking for any tips on how to get the thing off of there. I was out in the garage doing chinups on the thing trying to get it to budge.

I have the car supported by jackstands up front, and I have a jackstand under the differential in the back, as well as some blocks under the wheels. I'm wondering if the jackstand under the diff is putting some kind of strain on the driveshaft that is making it hard to get off. Should it be this hard to get the thing off there? I even tried to persuade it with a rubber mallet but it wouldn't come off. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!!!

 

theres sorta a npple, but its not really a nipple
its a part that sticks out and locks into the rear differential thing. U have to pull the driveshaft forwards using a screwdriver then itl come off.

 

ditto

 

Smack the side of the yoke/flange with a hammer, at various points around the shaft. It'll come out, it's just rusted on. That happens in as little as a month.

It doesn't help that the flange is a fairly itght fit inside the rear yoke's locating bore, meaning if you can't pull it STRAIGHT off, it'll bind. In practice, this means you have to pound the driveshaft with the butt of your hand and "rock" it off.

 

I'll try prying it forward tomorrow. Peejay, that is what I thought! Except when I tried this it didn't work. I beat the crap out of it with the hammer and it wouldn't move anywhere. I imagine after soaking in the oil bath tonight I can get her loose tomorrow. I guess I just wasn't hitting it hard enough. I'll try these tricks again tomorrow. I'll report back after I've tried them, hopefully wide some good news.

 

PB Blaster works wonders, mine was on there, wouldn't budge with even my mini sledge hammer, soaked it for a hour, smacked it twice and off it came. Good luck

 

Drop the rear off that jackstand. The driveshaft yoke in the front slides into the trans farther when the rear on the ground. If you let the rear droop, it will slide out of the trans. Then pry the driveshaft flange off the rear (should not be that hard).

 

 

and if all that don't work GET A BIGGER HAMMER !!!!

 

I got it. Had to use the hammer to hit the driveshaft forward a little bit. After a few strong blows from my largest hammer it dropped right out. I guess I just wasn't being rough enough with it. Thanks for the help everyone!!!

 

Heh, when all else fails, hit it with a hammer, funny thing is how often that works.

 

Clean rust off driveshaft and diff flange. repaint flanges if necessary.

put wheel bearing grease on both flanges before re-installing. that'll prevent rust and make it much easier to pop off next time.

 

you can be pretty rough with transmission parts

 

One trick i used on mine was, i had the car on the ground again, and tried to do a brake stand. As the power increased the driveshaft came right off as it wasnt bolted on and didnt have enough rust to turn the rear end. of course, dont just drop the clutch!! Do it slowly. Took 2 seconds.

 

hmmm, powerbraking it eh? I never thought of that, good idea to keep in mind.