Alrighty then

Follow up for those who stumble upon this and want some additional info.

As expected, the gearbox had dumped it's oil due to seals on the Ashcroft mt82 adaptor. It's a beautiful piece of kit but I worry a bit that it's not potentially more risky than the genuine shaft... If the genuine shaft fails you lose drive (which may be a drama out bush) but with the Ashcroft shaft, if the seal fails and dumps the gearbox oil, (and you don't notice) to me it seems a bigger risk re cost and potential danger with the potential of the gearbox blowing up... Anyhow I've gone with a LOF replacement shaft which is how they should have been from the get to imo!

I'll stick to tricks or issues I ran into as its all pretty simple to get the transfer case off and well documented in other threads

First off I'd suggest taking stuff apart for access as much as possible. I took the exhaust out but not the cubby and I'm sure would be easier with additional access from the top

Second - as Robmacca mentioned above - the Ashcroft oil case (blue bit) was super tight and had me concerned I'd have to grind it off. Taking off the housing in between the TC and gearbox was the only way to do this sans the actual Ashcroft tool and using a C spanner with an extension on the handle. Stilsons, as mentioned by Dazza above, was the only way to hold the shaft from rotating (even in 6th) and managed to cop them to the face when they fell off the shaft while lying underneath which was no fun so be careful!

Thirdly - the bolt at the back of the gearbox shaft can be super tight. I used the plank of wood with a bolt in it in the shaft cup (third pic) to hold the shaft still but still just lifted the car up with the breaker bar and didn't undo the bolt. Also snapped the 2x4. Resorted to a strong impact gun which zipped it right off - but wasn't my first preference with the impact going into the gearbox...

Fourthly, this should go without saying - but make sure you have a good set of tools with extensions and angles etc as some of the bolts are very awkward to get at

Had a slight issue with the replacement (LOF Extremespec mt82 shaft) but true to form, Luke from LOF was absolutely fantastic so all sorted.

Also decided to fit a slick shift while had the gearsticks out and the mods Dazza mentioned above re the shift links also.

Thankfully TC work done a few years back at Davis PL has held really well with no leaks or issues as per the intermediate shaft.

Hopefully that helps some people down the line!

Thanks all for the help