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MG TD TF 1500 - Drive shaft bolts removal help

Suggestions welcome: I'm trying to remove the 4 bolts holding the drive shaft (TD) to the diff (see photo) as the last step removing the tranny for my 5 speed conversion. It's impossible! This is a view through the already removed drive shaft tunnel. The car is up high on jack stands. The problem is they did not leave any room to put a wrench or socket on either side of those bolts! The wrench in the picture is a brake pipe wrench but it barely fits. I installed this shaft myself and I can't remember how I did it! There is no way to fit a socket or a spanner on either side! Help please!
Ed



efh Haskell

Don't remember how I got mine apart for a rear end replacement, but I'd suspect from directly below, doing the bolt nearest the ground, one bolt at a time, rotating the shaft for each one. Think that would provide the most room for the wrench. Instead of twisting the wrench put a socket on the other side and remove that way. There has to have been enough to get a grip onto the nut someplace to hold it in place as you had to get them tight somehow.
R Biallas

Ed, I have dropped the rear end of my drive shaft several times to get at the rear zerk fitting to lube it. I have always done it from underneath the car. It is tight but doable.
Art
A. R. Todd

No room for sockets Randy. I tried a socket with a U joint adapter. Just refuses to work! They must have had special spanners in Abingdon.
efh Haskell

I wedge a large, short-handled flat screwdriver between the flange and each bolt head so it can't turn, and then use an open-end wrench on the other side. Annoyingly slow, but it works.

Tom Lange
MGT Repair
t lange

As Mr. Biallas says, you have to get it from below and turn the driveshaft to your advantage. Helps to get the suspension hanging so you have maximum room at the bottom of the driveshaft by getting the maximum angle. I usually find some combination of open and closed end wrenches works.

If all else fails, you might find yourself grinding the cheeks down on an open end wrench to get the room you need.
David Littlefield

Slightly OT but in which direction were these bolts originally fitted, or doesn't it matter? On an earlier thread I think it was established that the general rule was that the bolt head is on the item that is being attached e.g. fender to chassis? Or was it that the head was on the part that the item is being attached TO e.g. on the chassis when fitting the radiator cross mounting rail? Maybe the fender to chassis is a poor example as there is no nut involved? I guess the drive shaft is the item that is being bolted TO the gearbox at the front & TO the diff at the rear which would mean one set would face the front & the other towards the rear. But which is which or doesn't it matter? The answer probably lies buried somewhere in the archive however it does seem relevant to raise the question here. Cheers
Peter TD 5801
P Hehir

Its a good idea to put witness marks on the two flanges.
This helps to insure that the Drive shaft goes back in the same orientation as when it came off.
Witness marks should also be on the front and the spline.

Jim B.
JA Benjamin

Get to them from below . Lowest first . By turning the drive shaft to the next one at the lowest point.

It worked for me on two TD'S,

Gerard
Gerard Hengeveld

"I wedge a large, short-handled flat screwdriver between the flange and each bolt head so it can't turn, and then use an open-end wrench on the other side. Annoyingly slow, but it works."

Times 2 - I use 2 open end wrenches and work from underneath. Cheers - Dave
DW DuBois

Peter

Consensus is to install bolts with the head towards the front of the vehicle, this does two things, it gives some protection for the exposed threads and also provides a small margin of safety if the nut comes off.
G Evans

Both the service manual and Moss catalog illustrations show the the bolt heads toward the propeller shaft - at the transmission end, heads to the rear. At the rear axle, heads to the front.
I wonder how much difference it makes?
B Mooney

They are out! This reminds me of the @SD#$ pedal box! Anyway, now the rear of the drive shaft should just fall free like the front did but it's stuck! Before I get violent with a BFH how do I separate the shaft from the diff?
Ed
(Guys, please don't change my thread and go "off topic" before others get a chance to answer. Their responses get lost in the mire and I really need the help!)
Ed
efh Haskell

Probably stuck from paint. Use a heavy putty knife and present I it between the flanges and fever a few taps with a hammer. Rotate and repeat if necessary. It should pop off. Clean the surfaces before you re install. Maybe even dab a little Never Sieze on the mating surfaces to make removal easier in the future
W. A. Chasser Jr

Sharp chisel or screwdriver will work as above. George
George Butz

Ed,

The flange on the differential has a small inner lip that fits inside the flange of the driveshaft. This lip is probably stuck in the driveshaft flange and as mentioned above, a sharp chisel between the two flange faces should separate them.

Gene

Gene Gillam

No paint, just stuck. Putty knife did the trick. On to the next task.
efh Haskell

This is off topic Ed, but am looking forward to seeing your next 5 speed installation video... I'll be getting mine in a week or two, and have learned a lot from your first video...
Tom Crause

Tom, email me off list. We can compare "notes".
efhask at roadrunner dot com

Ed
efh Haskell

TC did castle nuts facing center of driveshaft. No washer of any kind when split pin used. Nylocks on a propshaft will unwind if the direction of rotation is right/wrong. If no hole in bolt for split pin, a split lock washer will keep the nut from unwinding much better than a nylock. If direction of rotation is such that no unwinding is going to occur, then nylocks will work for a propshaft.

D mckellar

This thread was discussed between 23/03/2016 and 28/03/2016

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