In a failed attempt to remove my diff I stripped a prop shaft bolt. When I tried to remove it with vise grips, it rotated the brass colored flange out a little. I gave up trying to remove that bolt. I had already removed the bolt above it and tried to put it back in. I think the flange is blocking it a little so now it won't go back in. I want to take the car to a shop to pull the diff and swap my gears. Any tips on how to get the bolt back in? What is the torque on these bolts anyway. It is not in the Helm's manual. Thanks.

 

Put the tranny in neutral, rotate the driveshaft so the bolt is on the bottom, put the tranny in 1st gear, use vicegrips and remove the bolt. Do the same with the rest of the bolts.

 

I had the same problem removing my diff. I unbolted the driveshaft from the transmission and dropped the diff + driveshaft together. Once on the ground, the stripped bolts (I had two) met with a cutoff wheel on my dremel! 24 ft/lbs is the torque specification on both the front (tranny) and rear (diff) driveshaft bolts.

 

If they are stuffed just dremel them off.

The secret to getting them off in one piece is to use a head head on a breaker bar and give them a quick sharp turn. They will break loose with little damage. I learnt this the hard (read: two stuffed bolts) way.

 

I don't have the Helm in front of me, but I distinctly remember that the torque is written in there somewhere.

 

24ft/lbs

 

Where do you guys dremel the bolt? The head? What if it's still snug against the prop shaft? 24 ft/lbs is correct. It was in the drive shaft section, not the diff removal section. Thanks guys.

 

I used a cutoff wheel and got as close to the collar as possible. You will end up with a thin bit of material, but it's thin enough that it bends and pulls through the collar. Worked for me: