Sprint diff front oil seal removal - tips on how to please!

[gmsclassics]

Seal has been leaking quite a while, but now I also have a brake drum full of oil and grease, the time seems right to replace. Given the shield over the nut was still in place, and I've now owned the Pageant Sprint for more than half its life, I suspect this is the first time the seal has been replaced. I've tried all the simple means to lever the oil seal out, but given the pinion is still in place it leaves little room to manoeuvre. With the half shafts already removed, the pinion can move around a bit and I am afraid of damaging what is still a nice quiet axle.
The seal is the original metal edged type and is very firmly stuck in place after 40 plus years. If anyone else has tackled this, would appreciate some tips on what to try next.
Also how tight should I do up the nut when I’ve finished? I’ve read the procedure when rebuilding the whole diff, but given the collapsible spacer has already been squashed, that seems mostly irrelevant. I intend to Loctite the nut.
Thanks in advance
Geoff

[Carledo]

This is a bit like shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted, but the trick with these is to mark the position of the nut relative to the flange and count the number of turns on removal, then replace the nut and flange in the same place. Since you have already removed the nut, you now have a quandary! The ideal solution is to replace the compression tube (I understand new ones are still available, just about) Or possibly introduce a shim washer or 2 on the compression tube and re-torque, i've not tried this personally, but logic says it should work.

As for getting the old one out, they always seem very hard to remove in the original steel framed design, you just have to persevere, crowbars, chisels, drills, whatever you have to do, just try not damage the case!

As an aside, it is sometimes extremely difficult to get the bearing off the shaft, to access the compression tube too!

Steve

[2door-toledo]

I know the Toledo diff is somewhat different but I used a small 3 legged puller on the original metal front oil seal on my Toledo. I couldn't get it to budge any other way.