thanks mr. old guy i found a old MOTOR 37-47 blue book. once i read the instructions a few times and looked at the pics a few times and looked at my rear a few times- i finally figured it out and got the splines out. had to rap the small retaining pin screw a few times to gently persuade it to give up its hold on the big pin that holds the center block in place. i found that the emergency assembly on the back plate was limiting the movement of the spline and i could not push it in far enough so the 'c' clip could drop off. so i just took all brake stuff off anyway since the shoes and drums on this rear are shot. once i did that the spline move inward more than enough and the 'C' clip fell off and the spline could be pulled out with ease. paul