I'm in the process of cleaning and installing a rear disk brake kit on my 71 Cutlass. Before I removed the diff cover I checked the fill plug a noticed it was stripped. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to remove the plug? Is there another cover that will fit the 8.2 diff with a fill plug on the cover?

Fred

 

Weld a nut to the remnants of the existing plug.

 

Drill thru and break off an EZ-out in it

:-)

apply heat before attempting further turns.

I never understood why gorillas need to tighten them so much.
Apply a little sealer and hand snug it.

Start with the best tool you can when removing of course. Snap-on square drive tool for example...

 

Or tack weld an old stubby 3/8" extension into it, preferably black metal impact not chrome. harborjunk has sacrificial tools cheap. Could try a Snap On quality reverse fluted ez out. Hammer the ez out in then put a 3/8 impact hammer on it set real low and let the internal hammers finesse it out. Unload the rear end and drill it out. Fire wrench would be the last resort with something welded to the plug, you may have no choice but to repaint.

 

I assume the goal is to not damage the shiny black paint on the housing. Welding an extension to the plug is probably the best bet. Make a sheet metal mask to protect the housing.

 

The pictures sure look like a corporate 8.5" 10 bolt to me. Note the parallel ribs and the big "O" on the front of the axle tube area.

 

Kenneth- it is a corporate 8.5 10 bolt with 2.56 gears, just figured that out after I bought a rear brake conversion kit for a c-clip application. Hope I can get it to work.

Joe- yes the goal was not to destroy the new paint.

To everyone else, thanks for the advice I finally got it out after a lot of #*%! and using an extractor set. I used a magnet to catch all of the metal shavings. Hope there are no issues with the brake conversion (ie the bearings in the tubes) we will see.