Steel cutting advise please!

[markweatherill]

I have a redundant countershaft in my car's transfer case which I need to remove. I'd leave it in there but the bearings are starting to make noises.
Basically I need to cut this shaft in half in situ in order to make room to get it out. It won't come out in one piece. Removing the transfer case isn't an option.

What's a good way of cutting through this? Preferably making as few sparks as possible.
I don't have enough room to get an angle grinder on it, at least not all the way through the cut. I'll try a hacksaw but I feel I'd be there a long time.

I hope there's some magical tool designed just for this application that someone knows about

[Vince-HX]

sawzall

[Bicycle Bob]

Yup. And if the shaft is hardened, a grit-edge blade.

[metromizer]

What engine are you working with? You usually see counterbalance shafts in big 4 cylinders, where they are put there to smooth out vibrations (to sell more cars).

Although I've never done one, I've read about this old hot-rodder's trick with engines that use a separate chain to drive that countershaft; Just cut off and remove the chain, and abandon the shaft in place <leave it in>. You do have to be careful, to make sure the counterbalance shaft and drive chain don't also drive some crutial accessory, like the oil pump or distributor

[ROFL Box]

if you cant cut it with a sawzall it aint cuttable...

[markweatherill]

Anyway I finally managed it. The angle grinder had enough reach to cut into the shaft and once I'd made a cut all the way round but not quite meeting, the hacksaw was called out. Although the shaft was hardened on the outside, in the core it was just like regular steel. And I've just finished fibreglassing over the gaping hole in the transfer case! Lucky for me my employer has car lifts.