I started tearing down the spare transmission for my track car the other night and hit a roadblock when it comes to removing the 32mm nut on the mainshaft. It seems that Hercules did the last rebuild on this thing because I am not able to remove the nut even when using a 3 foot breaker. I've torn down three other trannys before and never had this kind of trouble. I even made a tool out of an old clutch disc, opposed to the vise-grip trick, but managed to mangle bend my tool like a pretzel.

It's gotten so bad now that I've nearly rounded off the 32mm nut and think I'll have to resort to cutting it off with a dremel tool. Has anyone used a dremel with success before to remove the nut?

Did you release the lock plate? Do you have the holder for the shaft? I've never seen one "too tight" to remove.

The Cap'n

Lock plate is removed and I have the shaft holder. This is the 3rd tranny I've torn down in the last year and I've never had close to this much trouble.

This happened at the PNW transmission clinic. We heated the hell out of the nut with oxy/acetylene and I think we still ended up cutting it off. You just need to split the nut. Luckily, if you booger the shaft up, you can use another shaft without changing any adjustments. Just use the full 2nd gear set.

Thanks I just watched the disassembly part of your DVD again to make sure I wasn't losing my mind. I'll try cutting it off today and if I end up damaging the shaft I'll use one from one of my cores.

I would try heating it with a torch first.

Torch had no impact.

Ultimately the nut was no match for my rotary tool and I was able to remove it without damaging the shaft or bearing. Fortunately I had an extra nut and washer to use from a core I tore down recently. I was able to get the 32mm off, dissassemble the gearstack, replace synchros and reassemble everything yesterday afternoon.