VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Mechanical - Engine, Trans, etc 1941 Rear End Shaft Removal

I am trying to remove the left rear shaft from a 1941 Chevy Coupe. The left rear shaft broke in two. To get the remaining part out, how do you remove the spacer in the differential?
The pin doesn't want to come out.
Thanks,

There is a lock screw that holds the pin (AKA differential pinion shaft)in and needs to be loosened to remove the spacer. You may have to rotate the pinion carrier assembly 180 degrees to find the lock screw. Once the lock screw is loosened the pin shopuld slide out easily and the spacer will drop out. I always slide the pin back in to hold the spider gears in place. There is still enough room to slide the axle in and remove the clip.

Hi Dan,

Here are some pictures to go along with Mike Deeter's good explanation. Let me add a few words of advise. On page 92 of your manual they talk about The adjustment of the ring gear and pinion, you don't want to mess with this setup. If you don't mess with the bolts that hold these parts in place you will not need to concern yourself with this adjustment.

It takes a little bit of patience to do any maintenance or repairs in almost all the areas of the rear axle. As soon as you remove the C-Washers on the drive shafts the side gears are going to be susceptible to falling out of place. Go ahead and remove them so you can inspect all the parts for wear/damage.

I would not be overly concerned with cleaning out the inside of the axle unless you want to remove the whole propeller shaft and its housing. To do this you will need to disconnect the Universal Joint and unbolt the complete housing from the front of the rear axle housing. If you choose to do this you could then do a through cleaning of the inside of the axle. I would only clean out the area below the rear housing cover.

You need to use a screw driver with as big a head as will fit in the slot of the screw. I then get my leverage to turn the driver with a cresent wrench. the second picture shows how this is done. The third picture shows the parts that will come out after removing the screw.

Got to go now. I will send you a PM with my phone number if you want to talk.


Good luck, Mike





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Just an update of Danny's problem.

Today Danny called and we discovered that the screw (pinion shaft lock screw) that holds the pinion shaft in place was broken off. About the last 1/8 to 1/4 of the threads are still holding the last inch and a half of the screw in place. I see no way to get the screw out without drilling it our with a 1/4 by 12 inch bit. As I see it this is the only way he can remove the spacer so the C-washers can be removed to get the axle shafts out?

The accompanying pictures show how I would do it. Does anyone have a better idea. My way would most likely require retapping the hole in the differential case that the screw threads into.



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The ideal way to drill it out would be to use a left handed drill bit. (and drill in reverse). If lucky it can catch and back out the remaining parts of the screw. Ywo problems though. I doubt if you can buy a 12" long left handed drill bit and the screw may be stuck in the threads.
Probably will be necessary to replace the case.

Thanks Gene,

I have a couple extra cases and should have all the parts to rebuild everything if Dan can not locate parts closer to Iowa. The big problem I see is coming up with the correct adjustment for the ring gear and pinion. This is on page 92 of the 41 manual, but it is all Greek to me!!!

Really appreciate your help Gene. Best wishes, Mike

Thanks for the help and the pics, Mike and Gene.
I will try to the left-handed bit. Maybe I'll have the
luck of the Irish today. :-) Dan.

The adjustment is easy to make. It actually requires a dial indiactor but can be done without. The ring gear is moved closer to the pinion gear until there is just s tick of movement between the gear teeth.

The drilling out of the bolt isn't working. The threads are pretty much gone. I can either "cut" out the spacer and replace the case. Or, maybe I should just find a whole new rearend? Help.

Following are emails I have exchanged with Danny about his stuck screw. We have also had a couple of phone conversations and exchanged more pictures. Danny's camera was not focusing properly so his pictures lack the detail for me to help evaluate what he is accomplishing. As his above post indicates he still is not making much headway. We both would appreciate any other suggestions. I feel it is a waste to just walk away from a complete rear axle assembly as he has mentioned to me on several occasions.

The grammar in my emails may cause one to misunderstand parts of my response. I apologize and thank you for your patience in reading through the correspondence.

HERE IS MY FIRST EMAIL TO HIM.

Our first option was to just drill a little and hope the bolt would come easily out. Plan "B" was to see if some metal shavings were wedged around the bolt holding it in place. I asked Danny to drill a little further say 1/8 inch. Then to take a vacuum and stick a small hose on it and suck out the shavings. Next to take a piece of wire and fish around inside the drilled hole to see if any other shavings could be vacuumed out. Then to take his air compressor and blow air into the hole. Doing this several times after rotating the one good rear tire shaft. The rotation movement should have caused the spacer and the shaft it rides on to move a little freeing the remainer of the pin to move some. Lastly, I asked him to suck out the hole again with his vacuum hose. Then try his magnet and see if it pulls out the remaining bolt.

I suggested rotating the rear tire on the non broken axle shaft side because it could vibrate the remaining part of the screw out the same as he was trying to do by moving the spacer by hand. Of course the rear end had to be jacked up a little so the tire was off the ground so it could rotate. The sucking of the vacuum could also work with a little hammering lightly next to the position of the bolt and even on the bottom of the round pin that holds the spacer in place. This 1/2 inch in diameter pin is about 5 inches long. As you rotate the casing you should see both ends of the pin. Tape lightly on each end as it rotates it should move about 1/32 of an inch or less. This movement COULD further loosen the remainder of the drilled out bolt.

I told him not to be be surprised if it wasn't the vacuum that finally dislodged the bolt. I then directed him to look at a few pictures that might help. You can see that one of the pictures showed a vacuum hose attachment that I use to clean out small places. The plastic hose on the end of the black attachment can be cut to any convenient size. The hose is about 1/2 inch in diameter. I got it to stretch over the end of the vacuum attachment by heating it with a grill lighter but anything even a wooden match might do the trick. I then took a little epoxy glue and glued it to the attachment end so it wouldn't fall off all the time as the plastic fatigues.

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The other pictures show the screw with 1/2 of an inch of thread. So you must drill out atleast 1/2 inch of the bolt to get it to come out. The other picture is of the 1/2 inch in diameter pin which is 5 inches long. I reminded him that this was what held the spacer in place. You can could tap lightly on it and it should move about 1/32 of and inch. When it moves it is freeing up pressure on the bolt. This could also make the bolt loosen up enough so your vacuum or magnet could suck the bolt out of the casing.

In doing this work remember "cleanliness is next to Godliness." You do not want to have left a metal shaving in the bolt hole that could wedge the bolt in the hole.

If this does not work then just repeat what I have suggested. Maybe try squirting some WD40 into the bolt hole for added slipperiness. Then suck the fluid out with your vacuum and reuse your magnet.

Remember I have all the parts you need so don't worry about screwing up.



NEXT UPDATE

If the rest of the bolt is not coming out I assume the reason might be that small metal shavings that are wedging the bolt so it won't come out. We know the bolt is 2 inches long so you may have to drill the entire 2 inches to get it to completely release. Please make sure you put a couple a squirts of oil into the bolt hole as you drill it so you don't dull the tip of your drill bit. After drilling the 2 inches you should be able to tap on the bottom of the 5 inch shaft and free it up.

LAST EMAIL

This is a rather rambling email so please be extra patient reading it. I will be home today so call if you need any support or clarification.

The carrier as you call it is named a differential case. I would be glad to sell you one for $50 since the screw hole in yours would need to be retapped. My case includes the two bearings on the end of the casing, the 5 inch shaft, the rectangular spacer, and the 2 inch screw. I would sell you a new drive shaft for the side that is broken for $35.00. You should have the other shaft Magnafluxed for cracks before deciding if you want me to send both shafts (driver's side and passenger side). You should replace both axle seals (one on each side), the bearing on the broken side if itlooks damaged, and the gasket for the axle cover. Chevs of the 40's can provide you the seals, and gasket. I have used axle shaft bearings' for $20 each. New bearings are around $85 each for an axle bearing and $125 each for the ring bearing.

Your previous email mentioned having a guy cut out the spacer. Before cutting out the spacer I would consider purchasing another 12 inch drill bit in the next available size, 3/8 of an inch. Ace Hardware sells them for $14.99 They are made by Dewalt the part # is SKU 26649. It seems to me you could drill out your hole more and that might get the rest of the bolt to come out. I would only drill to the depth you previously drilled too. Of course use a lubricant and clean everything out with your vacuum and an air compressor. Then try using a magnet again. The key word is MIGHT be able to remove the screw this way. On the other hand I do see that it is possible to split the spacer in half and this COULD free up the space to remove the 2 C-washers that hold the shafts inside the axle. Once the shafts are disconnected you can push them out of the casing, you can then unbolt the differential case from the inside of the axle. I am also concerned that this might not give you enough space to remove the two C-washers. The C-washers will not come out until you push the axle shafts all the way in. There is about a 1/8 inch amount of play in each shaft to allow you to do this. You do your pushing on the brake drum or end of the shaft with the 6 bolts that attach the wheel.

I would caution you about cutting out the spacer. The spacer touches both side gears and rides on a top and bottom gear. It would be easy to cut into the top and bottom gears if you are not really extra careful. I do have all these gears. I would charge you $25 per gear. Remember all my parts are used, but I do have complete faith in their reliability, and would replace any of them, free of charge, if they failed. I included a picture of the spacer so you could see that it is only about 1/8th of an inch thick at the middle points you would want to cut through.


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Good luck, Mike

P.S. Have you consulted with anyone (friend, a mechanic) locally on what they suggest? Have you shared with anyone my suggestions and the pictures I posted on the VCCA web site or through our emails. I have two exceptional friends that I can always call on locally to give me a fresh prospective on how to handle a problem. I always weigh their advise to come up with my plan of attack. I hope you can do the same.

The second picture shows the two magnetic wands I use. The smaller one is about 5/16 the larger about 29/64. Ace Hardware sells the smaller one. It is rated for 3 pounds of pickup.


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Just saw this problem post...If your long drill bit drills the broken bolt...Use a plain old easy-out. I know...Iknow the easy out handle don't fit...Use a1/4 inch boxed end - open end with the easy-out only...Piece of cake..Use a long punch to set the easy out

If you drill a 1/8" hole in the center of the pin, once the threaded portion is drilled out you could possibly attach a long self tapping screw into the 1/8" hole to pull the remaining part of the pin.