Hahaha, your eyes had to be HUGE when you seen that bone dry pds cavity lol..
Well, it was not the first time I had seen this, otherwise yes...... I would have been wide-eyed!
So.. I just ran into another problem here on this 280. On the upper gear housing, where the clamp ring thing (the 4 bolt clamp that's holding back the ujoints from slipping right out forward, the part on the drive where the drive bellow clamps to) one of the bolts is INSANELY corroded to the point someone stripped it out that was in this previously alone years back.... I got the other 3 bolts out, but I have NO IDEA what to do about that bolt to get it out.
That too is not the first time that I've dealt with that.
I can share with you what to do next.
Because, I need to reseal that area behind the ujoints since rust and etc made its way into the bellows and more than likely ate up that seal there... are there any other options for that bolt or a clever way to be able to get the bolt out without destroying that clamping collar/carrier the ujoints are with?
OK, up until the first A series transmissions, all of the front collar bolts are wet area threads.
These bolt threads become corroded, therefor making it difficult to remove them.
Most DIYrs do not use heat on the thread insert areas, and they end up stripping out the hex head sockets.
You will need to:
Remove the top cover.
Remove the eccentric piston housing.
Find a machinist who is good with a milling machine.
He will clamp the transmission to his milling machine with the eccentric piston side down.
He will gently go in with a cutter, and remove most of the remaining bolt fragment.
NOTE: there is a very delicate shoulder in the bolt bore that must not be disturbed.
This surface is what the sealing washer seals against.
If this shoulder is disturbed, you will end up purchasing a new clamping collar, and will then need to go through the shimming process.
He will then cut the remaining portion of the bolt away, but not all of the bolt.
You will need at least 5/8" of bolt shank left for later extraction.
With the other three bolts removed, and with most of the one bolt removed, you can now carefully remove the collar and the bearing box.
You will next heat the gear case at the area of the thread insert (Propane heat only....... no Oxy-Acet) and remove the remaining portion of the bad bolt.