rubber donut

Hi all, I've had some very valuable repair and maintenance info from this site and hopefully someone has had a similar experiance and can help me this time. Basically I've replaced the rear prop shaft coupling but am having a hell of a job trying to line up the bolt holes to fit the bolts. I've managed to get 4 of the bolts in place but the remaining two holes are about 3-4mm out of alignment. is there a simple solution, like I've done it wrong, ( the bolts had to be hammered out when disassembling). The manual says just to remove the bolts and then replace them when reassembling, dead easy eh.

Did you just remove the rubber donut?

Have you jacked up the Disco with rear axle hanging ?
Best to jack it up under the axle so the shaft is in its 'normal' position .

No, I unbolted and removed the prop shaft, carefully scribing marks on it to aid reassembly, then fitted the donut, lined up the scribe marks and rebolted the prop shaft at one end. It's when I came to put the second bolt in the donut that I sensed I'd have fun reassembling it. All bolts except the first one have been challenging, the two coupling flanges are not lining up with the coupling holes.

I have it up on ramps. Is it better to jack it?

On ramps should be fine - the axle is in its normal position .
Also could you move the Disco backwards or forwards a bit as you may find that the holes ' on top' often line up better .
The 'face' of the prop shaft and the 'face' of the diff are not parallel - if that makes sense .
Presuming this is a D1 ?
Could you fit the doughnut bolts first and then fit the front coupling ?

Hi Dooroy, I had to drive the disco out of the garage (as I can't get the door closed with it in there) with only 4 bolts done up so maybe this will give it the backwards and forwards movement you suggest. I'll have a go at undoing the front coupling, fitting the donut bolts first and then fixing the front coupling again as you suggest, might make it easier, I'll let you know how it goes. Thanks.

Eureka. Got the disco back up on the ramps the driving in and out of the garage must have turned the shaft and moved the donut into a better place for fitting the remaining two bolts. Still had to persuade them into place with a crow bar and hammer, but they're in and tightened up. Thanks for the suggestions Dooroy. Next up is replacing the AC belt. Any tips anyone?

AC belt is very easy.

Just need to remove the Aux belt first, 15mm socket on the tensioner and a long bar is usually easier.

The AC belt tensioner has 3 10mm bolts to loosen if I remember correctly.