Um yeah. Trying to get inspection plate off and put my 105 beastly lbs into it and THIS happened. NOW WHAT?! A 3/4 or 1/2 in ratchet is too wide to use unless I (needlessly) take oil plug out of my way ...

 

A wise man once said "I am too poor to buy cheap tools"

 

Har har thanks. But I'm guessing this is a tiny indication that at some point this sucker was torqued a teeny beyond specs. Bolt does not look corroded at all and I used Blaster on it last 12 hrs (only broke my thumbs yesterday - no tools)

 

Righty Tighty - Lefty Loosy.

What inspection plate?

 

[twirls hair giggling] oh was I supposed to go left? Haha. Thanks.
Inspection plate for the torque converter- for quite awhile I've had an annoying rattle that I'm convinced is in that area. But NOW getting it off is a matter of principle (pissing match with my xj) even if for naught

 

Use box end wrenches, or combination open end/box end wrenches to get the large bolts/nuts out.

 

Add some penetrating oil and a hammer to those box wrenches if it's super frozen. Or, if you can squeeze a 3/8 drive socket in, use one that fits and is decent quality.

 

Forgot to mention....loosen the nut, not the bolt.

If you're working on the driver's side bolt, it may be corroded in place. I had to cut the threaded end off with a Demel cut-off wheel then drill out the bolt. It was corroded in place so bad I couldn't even hammer it out.

Went back in with a shorter bolt, head facing to the rear. Now I can remove the bolt without contacting the exhaust pipe.

 

On top of rust the bell housing is aluminum and the bolt is steel... They don't play well together.

 

As always, thanks! Actually it's the little 13mm bolt that clears my oil plug by an inch or so and it looks like the bolt should pass thru to the back, but it does not. Only got the front to work with. Just picked up an open ended thingy (went with Craftsman for extra street cred if I break it). Unfort, can't get back to task for a couple more hrs so I'll have to commence additional whining then. Thanks!