CV Joint/Driveshaft "issues" - followup

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Fortunately, I did finally get the drive axle out! I haven't got any
replies to my previous message yet, I guess I figured I would still be
fighting the thing tomorrow and so the list would be able to maybe offer
some help. Sometimes e-mail just isn't fast enough, and not enough of you
folks hang out on irc in #scirocco, so...

Anyway, after 2 or 3 hours of pounding, prodding and pulling and trying
all sorts of different things, I used a punch and a carpenter's
steel hammer to drive the protective cap off the inner CV. Previously I
hadn't been successful at this, but after soaking the whole mess with
WD-40 and using a razor blade to try and cut through the gunk around
the circumference that looked almost like glue, I finally drove it off
with the punch. This was a small victory, of course, because it did
absolutely nothing for me, save for giving me a little better access to
spray Liquid Wrench into the flange bolt holes. More pounding with the
rubber hammer and trying to dislodge the inner CV from the drive flange
led me to retreat to the computer again to read scirocco list archives and 
brainstorm.

I got an idea and went back outside. I reasoned that now that the six
flange bolts were removed, if I could hold one side (inner cv) from moving
and turn the other side (drive flange), it should break free. Not quite. I
chocked the wheels and had a friend step on the brakes, then I put it in
1st and stuck a breaker bar and 22mm(?) socket on the cam sprocket to turn
the engine over by hand. It kept feeling like I almost had it, but then
either the wheel would spin, or the cam sprocket bolt would tighten a tiny
bit, so not wanting to overtighten my cam sprocket or ruin the seal behind
it, I gave up.

I soaked the whole thing with WD-40 again and laid under the car to stare
at it and try to think of a way to get it apart. Just for kicks, I tried
for the 50th time to drive the drive flange "cap" free from the inner CV
using a punch and an ordinary hammer. To my surpise, on about the 13th
whack, the inner CV hopped out of the drive flange and landed in my palm.
I felt like there was some magical genie nearby or something. I wasn't
even pounding in the right direction! All that jimmying and WD-40 must
have gotten it loose.

Of course, by now, I'd wasted some 7 hours trying to get the damn thing
seperated, and the 2 or 3 minutes it took to maneuver the thing out of
there seemed like no time at all. But now it was dark and I started to
collect all the tools scattered in my driveway... looks like a 2 day
project! Tomorrow I get to fight the drive flange circlip and tackle
putting in new seals (I can't WAIT to try and get the pass side inner
CV seperated), not to mention assembling the new joint on my rebuilt axle
correctly, since it was put together wrong when it came in the box.

When I squeezed the ripped inner CV boot trying to pull the joint free,
all this oily water and tranny fluid came out, with a bunch of little
silvery microscopic "glitter". It was kind of cool, except that I knew
where it came from. Good thing I'm replacing the joint! I should also be
replacing my tranny oil drain plug, as that thing was a bitch to get off
(wheel bolt and vice grips did not work) and I made a small crack in the
corner of the allen head on it. The local parts place didn't stock them
and I didn't feel like getting a ride to the junkyard so I just oiled the
threads and carefully reinstalled it.

I thought about replacing the drive flange since it got banged on so much
during the driveshaft. Am I running a big risk of gear oil leaks here by
not replacing this? I didn't give it any hard smacks, mostly just medium
taps trying to dislodge the stuck piece. How much would a new drive flange
run, approximently?

Maintainance is a pain in the ass! At least I'm putting Redline MTL in the
gearbox when this is all over with, so I'll be able to enjoy the
difference in shifting. Hopefully I won't have to enjoy replacing my oil
soaked clutch if my rear main seal fails due to the thinner oil!
Wish me luck..

Greasily Yours,

-Toby

--
'87 16v

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