rear end cover replacement?

[sharky]

Hey all. i`m replacing my cracked r/end cover on my 68` look`s fairly easy .(I have ace/ox ) torches. Only problem i can see is the top 2 bolt`s. they go thru crossmember and mount to cover. should i take crossmember off. or try to work around it. anyone already did this job ? and if so any tips.\? thanks Guys. Sharky .AKA/ Larry

 

[Bullitt]

Been there

On my '71 there are four bolts through the top of the crossmember. If you feel around, you'll probably find the other ones. There's so little room to work in that area though, so I recommend to take out the differential unit with the crossmember as one piece. The cover is almost impossible to line back up. It'll give you time to check everything out and clean them all up. You'll have to drop the exhaust out of the way. Put a big floor jack under the diff. and remove the mount and crossmember bolts. Prying down on the crossmember and a couple of blows with a hammer will get it to fall, eventually.--Bullitt

 

[69MyWay]

Bullitt is exactly right. Try to get to the bolts from on top first before you think about dropping the rear cross member. I have dropped a couple of them, and they are really hard to put back into place.

You may find a whole lot of corrosion to the extent that the bolt heads are hardly hex shaped anymore. Do the best you can. Worse case, just pull up the rear carpet and cut a hole in the floor of the car. It can be easily patched back up later.