Lowering Snailshell Trans on '79 924
 

So I've run into the dreaded "reamed out" fill plug problem. I won't go through all the efforts I've made to get the plug out, but suffice to say, I've been working on this for 3 weekends now.

Is it possible to remove the 4 bolts that hold the transaxle and lower it a couple of inches? I know I have to be careful of the left hand drive shaft and the exhaust. But there appears to be enough clearance. Is there enough play in the torque tube to allow this? Are there any warnings or caveats to this plan?

I feel like I could get the bugger free if I could get my impact wrench on it.

For those with the same problem, here's how I solved it:

I went ahead and supported the transaxle on a jack. I removed the 4 mounting bolts for the transaxle and the 3 bolts on the back that hold the muffler support.

Lowering the transmission didn't work. The exhaust was in the way of the left hand halfshaft. I could have removed the shaft, but decided to try raising the transaxle first. I raised it as far as it would go and was able to get a 17mm impact hex key in the fill plug, then added a 6 inch extension with a wobble adapter on the end over the top of the mounting arm. The extension cleared the transaxle mounting arm with about 4mm to spare. It took several attempts (over about 15 minutes) of hitting it with the impact and it finally broke free.

Note: Because I had boogered up the fill plug with my previous attempts at removal, I ground the end off of the 17mm impact key... just enough to make the end perfectly flat so it would fully engage the fill plug. If I had started this whole adventure with grinding it flat, I might have been able to get the plug out sans unbolting the transaxle. The fill plug is very shallow to begin with.

I also found that the rubber in one of the two transmission mounts had collapsed, and the other was brittle and cracked. It never rains but it pours.

Weld a 17 mm allen wrench to the plug.

An excellent option if you own the equipment and have the skills to weld to aluminum. I have neither.