Date:         Wed, 8 Mar 2006 22:19:07 -0600
Reply-To:     John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         John Rodgers <inua@CHARTER.NET>
Subject:      Re: last call for axle cleaning suggestions
Comments: To: Wesley Pegden <wes@CS.UCHICAGO.EDU>
In-Reply-To:  <440F80AD.6080002@cs.uchicago.edu>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

Wes,

Use a solvent to clean all grease and dirt from the shaft, then sand
lightly the portion of the shaft between where the boots will ride. Use
of a fine grit wet/dry sandpaper will give you a really smooth finish.
DO NOT sand any portion of the shaft where the splines are. After
cleaning and sanding, wash off with clean solvent again to remove any
sanding dust, then use a good epoxy spray paint and paint the shafts. I
think the shafts were all originally black - don't know for sure - but I
would paint mine blue, or orange or yellow or something - just to add a
little pizzaz or to be different.

Good Luck,

Regards,

John Rodgers
88 GL Driver x2

Wesley Pegden wrote:

> Hi all,
> I'm sending this out as another attempt to gather some wisdom regarding
> cleaning up my axles before putting on my new cv joints.  Is it safe to
> use fine sandpaper to help clean them?  (For example, the kind you can
> use wet?)  I had a few responses that thought this was a bad idea.  What
> do people think is the best way for me to clean them up (at the ends
> where the boots will go)?
>
> Thanks for any help,
> Wes
> '84 1.9l manual
>
> One more question was: should I do anything to my transmission while I
> have the axles out?  Wipe the grease away from the area where the cv
> joints attach, etc?
>
>