Zach Guzaitis

I an '06 malibu. The CV axle fell off after a related repair and destroyed the splines on the stub shaft and CV. I've purchased a new stub shaft, shaft seal, and CV axle and assembled on the bench. My issue is that I cannot remove the damaged shaft (pass. side) from the transmission (automatic). I've attempted to attach vise grips to the shaft and tug, but the circlip is still retaining the shaft. I've read about a J- tool that can attach to the shaft and a slide hammer to avoid damaging the shaft, but this shaft is garbage and I am not concerned with damaging it. I'm trying to see if anyone knows of a more aggressive, and less expensive route than purchasing a 100$ J- tool.

I was going to post this to a malibu specific subforum, but I'm fairly sure some other vehicles share this same transmission/shaft set up. Any help is appreciated!

Zach