Rear drive shaft stuck

[Deets54]

Update
Not much to report other then a lot of cussing at Volvo engineers. I have been wrenching on cars for over 50 years. Never have I experienced the problems and design issues on this car. Why they thought it was a good idea to put the exhaust directly under the drive shaft is beyond me. The front triangular exhaust bracket is directly in the way. As is the front sway bar. No good angle on trying to rap the driveshaft hub. Then there is the aluminum heat shielding. Dirt and mud gets trapped in it and if you even breath on it, you get a face full. I started working on British cars at 16. MGs, Triumphs.
I have worked on Toyotas, Nissan and GM products for years. Worked on Volvos 240s,740s and turbos. Nothing comes close to this nightmare.
I just spent 4 hrs under the car and still have not got the driveshaft loose. Removed the bolts to the center support bearing and the cross bracket it bolts too. Removed rear drive shaft bolts. Tapped with a hammer, nothing happened other then the front cv joint cap/housing coming loose and two bearings falling out. Now have to totally remove the driveshaft so to put the cv joint back together. All this to remove and replace a couple of turbo coolant hoses. My shop lights went out, have to recharge them. Will take some pictures tomorrow for reference. Will try removing angle gear again and see if I can twist it to a point to free the drive shaft.
Thanks all for the pointers and info. Try try try until success.

[Deets54]

Well, my last post got lost. Yesterday tried working on it again. Not much progress except for a lot of cussing. Removed the center support and the cross bracket that it's bolted too. Removed the rear drive shaft bolts as well. Tried different approaches and still no luck on getting the drive shaft loose from the angle gear. Spent almost 4 hrs. Only thing that was accomplished was the housing on the front cv joint came apart and two bearings fell out. Now it looks like the whole shaft needs to be removed.
The main problem I am facing is the lack of room to access the shaft. With the exhaust being directly under the shaft I can't get a good angle on it.
I am thinking maybe of putting a pipe wrench on the shaft and try twisting it so the front holes don't line up. Then maybe putting a bolt in from the front and pushing it a part.

I really can't understand the need to bury the shaft behind the exhaust. The tunnel could have been made a bit wider and exhaust placed along side. Also the aluminum heat shielding is a major pain. It has trapped years worth of mud and dirt. You can't even breath near it without a face full.

I have been wrenching on cars for over 50 years. Started working on British sport cars when I was 16. Have done all my repairs on autos. Toyotas, GM, and a variety of older Volvos. Never have I experienced such a nightmare.

I have a profession mechanic friend who was helping my daughter with her Subie. He commented that all car manufacturers should require their engineers to spend a couple of years having to repair 20 plus year old vehicles. That would change their perspective.