Diff removal

Hi technical gurus, I want to remove the diff from my car to have it checked out and do some tidying up on my underbody for the resto of the car. It's a '77 GT, the gearbox was removed when I bought the car, and I currently have all the suspension out and stripped as well. I'm wondering about removal of the torque tube as I don't have the relevant chapters of the workshop manual, all the pdf downloads I've seen are missing a few chapters. Can someone tell me if I remove the bolts holding the tube to the front of the diff, will it and the driveshaft come away "relatively easily", or are there other things I need to undo and remove first? Do I have to disconnect the half shaft in the middle first? That looks like a real bugger if so...Once the tube is disconnected It looks like the diff slides aft and then will lower down. If anyone has any advice or can point me in the direction of a thread that's useful, or if anyone has the missing workshop manual chapters I can download as well I would be very grateful.

 

Thanks for the pics and tip's Al, that looks helpful

 

Thanks Mr Jones, It was my intention to change the bearings. I want to check the backlash and condition of the crownwheel etc. Still looking for the workshop manual covering those chapters. If you have any other tips on the inside of 400 diff, I'm happy to hear them. Cheers

 

Thanks Christian for that info and thanks Al for the link to the work you previously did. Your wheel bearing removal Is also very helpful, as I was going to attempt to make it happen in the next few days. I will work out my plan of attack with the diff and keep you posted. If there's a trusted specialist nearby they may get the work. I'm not scared to try it, but I don't really have the facility for making speciality tools