Can't get shifter plate off 4-speed tailshaft!

[Chatt69chgr]

I bought a 4-speed recently and want to remove the shifter plate from the tailshaft.  It is made of aluminum and is held on to the three bosses that project out of the tailshaft with three 7/32 inch flat head allen bolts.  They won't turn.  I have sprayed the bolts from above and below the plate with penetrating fluid.  I have heated various areas gently with a propane torch and then resprayed the area twice.  And I have inserted the allen head wrench and hit it to jar the bolts while trying to turn them.  No luck so far.  I think if I force the bolts any more, the hex areas will strip out.  I have begun to think that I should use a cutoff wheel in my die grinder to cut the plate up into three pieces that could turn individually from each other.  And then drill a 3/32 inch hole down the center of each bolt so I could put penetrating fluid down the hole and, thus, below the bolts to attack the threads from the lower end.  Has anyone ever run into this problem and, if so, how did you deal with it?

[John_Kunkel]

Just drill the heads off the Allen screws with a 3/8" bit and remove the rest with an EZ-Out. After two heads are removed you might get the third screw loose by rotating the plate with hammer blows.

[resq302]

Had this problem with my old trans.  Ended up taking the trans out when it needed to be rebuilt and installed a different trans that did not have the shifter plate on it.  When I installed the new bolts, I put a little anti seeze on them to prevent this from happening on this trans.

[Dennis K]

I'm guessing by your first post that you don't intend to save the shifter mount. If that's the case, then you can take a BFH to the plate and break it off, then use a vise grip on the outside of the bolt heads. I have done it this way a few times.

[Chatt69chgr]

Dennis-----You are correct that I am not going to save the plate.  I am going to make a special tool to use with my manual impact driver so I can use a 7/32 allen wrench with it.  If that doesn't work, I plan to more or less do what you suggest but I will carefully cut up the plate with my cutoff tool first.  I don't want to break the bosses off as I have seen on so many tailshafts.  I did pick up some Kroil today and will be dousing the three bolts with it and letting them soak for a while. 

[jerry]

i welded a piece of 3 /16"steel plate 1"x1" on the screw heads then used a cresent wrench and they came right out. took 20 minutes.