Removing Rear End

[Johann]

Reading up on rear differential assembly removal in the service manual and it makes no mention of removing the exhaust. With all of the surrounding hardware removed it looks like the mounting ears on the rear cover won't clear the exhaust no matter which way you clock it.

Anybody been there done that? Is it more practical to just leave the cover in place and drop only the "pumpkin"?

 

[PhoenixGTS]

Definitely leave the cover in and the car and just take carrier out. I am currently debating the same exhaust question. I talked to "Fat" Albert box here in Phoenix that works with lots of cars with Belanger rear exhaust sections like mine and he says the exhaust has to come out. Ugh - I was hoping to get lucky.

 

[1TONY1]

Definitely leave the cover in and the car and just take carrier out.

Have you actually pulled one doing this ???

 

[Jim Wilson]

I did mine with Corsa exhaust installed. You just have to rotate/twist/turn the third member a bit to get it out. The install was easier than the removal due to not having to pry it loose from the cover. They use really strong grey silicone sealant and I had to use a bottle jack between the frame rail and the housing to remove it.

 

[PhoenixGTS]

Thanks for posting Jim because I was going to have to admit to Tony that I had not done this YET, but knew you had, Unitrax suggests leaving the cover in, and when you look under there it is pretty easy to realize it would be more trouble to get the cover out with those big wings on it (especially more trouble if you got yours out and in with the exhaust still on). It the Corsa a 3"? Anyone know if it is farther away from the diff than a Belanger rear section?

 

[Jim Wilson]

Yep, it's a 3", but you have the big question about spacing between the tubes, hold on let me measure it..........at the cover/3rd member interface there is 8.5 inches of clearance and at the pinion seal it is 14 inches.

 

[Camfab]

Do yourself a favor, pull the exhaust and drop the whole assembly out. There is no way your not going to do a sloppy job doing it your way. You will regret it.

 

[PhoenixGTS]

Do yourself a favor, pull the exhaust and drop the whole assembly out. There is no way your not going to do a sloppy job doing it your way. You will regret it.

I try to plan my projects in groups for efficiency. For example I removed the AC condensor, cleaned it and replaced the leaking o-rings at the same time I put in a new radiator and water pump. Same area and the hood had to come off. Easiest way to get the rear section of a Belanger off is the three-bolt flange just inside the rear of the side sill. So that means the sills probably need to come off (don't think you can reach the flange bolts w/o the sills off) and of course that means that to be efficient I would need call Sean Roe and get some of that fancy insulation fabric he has to wrap the exhaust inside the sill and spend $300 more blah blah blah. Can you tell I have just finished my taxes and owe a bunch of money?