[speed220mph]

Rather than removing interior and tunnel from my ERA to repair a damaged ring gear, I decided to do the job from underneath. Problem is the driveshaft won't come out because of the c'member supporting the driveshaft hoop is welded into frame. This prevents the driveshaft from dropping down far enough to pull it out of the trans. No problem if you have a hacksaw. I cut out the center section of this small angle section, dropped rear of driveshaft, allowing trans. to slide back just far enough to clear bellhousing (after removing shifter wand). The bellhousing, clutch and flywheel was then accessible.

To restore strength to the c'member, I fabricated a 1-1/4x3/8 bar from 6061 T6 aluminum and drilled holes to match hoop bolts. After sliding everything back into place, I bolted my newly fabricated section into place and voila, done.

Only downside is material thickness doesn't allow full thread engagement with hoop bolts, so I'll replace bolts with longer ones. Another solution would be to use thinner material. To prevent galling aluminum, I used moly grease under nuts. Hard washers will be used with new hoop bolts.

Sorry about poor quality photo.