[toomanytoys2]

Finally got the rear CV setup done in the rear. I did have to end up buying some aftermarket axles though. The stock VW axles do not have very many splines on them, so if things are not 100% perfect, you can get binding and break a CV cage. However, the aftermarket axles have a splined section that is almost 2-1/2” long, so the axles can plunge into or out of the CV if they need to. Luckily I was able to find a used set of stock length axles on a VW forum that were about 1/4th the cost of new ones. However, since I had axles of different lengths, I had to shorten one of them. Cutting the axles was no big deal, just a couple of slow cuts with the chop saw. The difficult part was to cut the slot for the circlip. I had two issues in cutting the slot, first the axles are very hard, and I would have to cut the slot in the splined section. This meant that I had to take one of my carbide bits and grind it to the exact width of the slot. Then I had to make some very fine cuts, so that I would not chip the bit. Sorry no pics. on this process, because I forgot to take the pictures.

Once I got the short axle finished, I assembled the passenger side to check to make sure that the sprocket would be in the position that I wanted. It actually came out better than I had hoped for. I was able to move the sprocket over about 1/2" closer to the passenger side which may be enough to allow me to use the CVT cover. I then tacked in the support tubes for the mid axle pillow blocks. Just in case that something was off, I had spent a little extra on the bearings and had gotten the types that are self-aligning. Then I had to fab up the driver’s side.

To do this I had to chuck up the Joyner CV cup in the lathe and shorten it like I did on the passenger side. Since I had moved the sprocket over, I didn’t have to cut near as much off as I had to on the passenger side, so it went pretty quick. I will say that making the last weld on the CV cups was a little nerve racking. When I did the first side, I had some fudge factor, but if I had measured wrong on the second side, once welded, it would either be right or I would be screwed and searching for more parts. I think I must have measured it over ten times before I pulled the trigger on the welder, and once the smoke had cleared, it fit perfectly.

As it sits now, I will have 10” of travel available in the rear end. Of course that will depend on the type of shocks that I end up getting. I still have 5 degrees of CV angularity left in droop and could pick up a little more than an extra inch of travel, but for now, I will probably leave it as it is. I don’t really like to push things to the limit and I would have to modify the lower A-arms a little bit to get this extra travel. I also discovered that I will need to get some different CVs, the ones that I have are just a little too worn for my liking.

The next step is to determine how to mount the engine. I have the engine and trans. out of the cradle right now so I can clean up all of the extra tabs. Once that is done, I will put just the transmission back in the cradle, line up the sprockets and make up the mounting points. Here are a couple of pictures for you viewing enjoyment.