Chirco is building a Baja Bug! Many of the air - cooled VW parts and procedures used can also be used on Dune Buggies, Sand Rails. These pages feature links to the Chirco online parts catalog.

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PART 12- Re-Building CV's and Drive Axles

This page we are going to disassemble our CV joints and install new CV boots. All of our parts have been cleaned and inspected for any severe wear.

For you folks that like puzzles, you will love CV's. 1st, turn the inner CV cage perpendicular to the main CV as shown in photo 1. Remove all 6 ball bearings then the inner part that rides on the axle. You will have a total of 9 pieces. After all pieces all cleaned, you are ready to re-assemble. (Get some WD-40 and spray down the parts, it will help if all the parts are slippery.)
The are some identifying markings to look for. On the inner cage, look for a ring mark. This indicates that it rides on the shaft side or inside. When rebuilding your CV make sure the thin part of the inner cage parallels the thick wall of the outer CV wall. (see two arrows above). 
With all of the bearings back in the CV and it re-assembled correctly, make sure the side with the outer ring goes on the side your CV Boot will sit on. (see above red arrow)
OK, I have my 4 CV's, 2 drive axles, 4 boots, 4 inner retaining rings, 4 outer retaining clips and 4 bags of CV grease. I am set and ready to assemble. 
To get the boots on the axles, I sprayed a little WD-40 on the small end of the boots to help them slide on easier. 
Then the inner retaining ring is put on. I was unable to get more photos of the next steps because my hands were full of CV grease. So I will just explain the process. Grab a bag of your CV grease and cut of a small corner. Start with the side of the CV that rides on the boot. Work an ample amount of grease into the CV by moving the inner parts around. When you feel you have enough, put a little more in. The squeeze a bunch into the inside of the CV boot and set the CV on the drive axle. Tap it down so it is sitting on the ring. You then need to install the out retaining ring. Make sure the ring is riding in the recesses area of of the axle by rotating the ring in the slot. Now use the rest of the grease on the outside of the CV and work it in. You should have CV grease up to your neck. With both sides done we are ready to install them in the car. We made sure all of our CV bolts were in good shape and we had our wave washers and 3 CV retainer brackets.
Know that was a project, but now we have good clean and working drive axles and CV's. 
I was washing my hands to get all the grease off and Brandon walks up to me and says, "You know we sell drive axles complete and already built, you did not have to do all of that work" My verbal response was "I knew that, but I felt this was worthy of sharing this with our internet viewers." My non-verbal response was , well you can guess what it was.

If you have any questions or comments about Project Baja please e-mail don@chirco.com we sure would like to hear from you.