Axle Rebuild #3

One of my CV boots tore open, and threw grease everywhere. Again.

The stock axle flanges are made from thin, stamped metal. They’re so weak that they require “lock plates” under the bolts—presumably to keep the flange from twisting apart. Unfortunately, a previous owner had already damaged my flange, making it useless. Every time I installed a CV boot, it would slide out of place. I even tried using multiple clamps to hold it, but they just cut into the boot.

NOS flanges are not available. I tried to repair my flange with a tailpipe expander:

And, while now rounded out perfectly, CV boots still slid right off. It needs to be replaced. I set out to buy a new flange and boot. The axles are Porsche parts, so this shouldn’t be hard, right? I was warned not to buy the wrong size. I researched, and bought a Porsche 911 axle flange with boot, and another spare boot.

Compared to the stock flange, those were the wrong size. Too small. I didn’t need the Porsche 911, I needed the Porsche 930. Oops. I sent those back.

Next, I ordered some Porsche 930 parts, from different vendors.

Nothing fit the stock flange, and nothing fit together correctly since all the parts were from different vendors. I returned everything again. I finally settled on one vendor, kartek.com, for a matching flange and boot. I also picked up their stainless clamps. While their boot is a tough fit over the axle shaft, the boot works well.

It was finally time to rebuild the axle. First, I used a wire brush to clean off all the late ’83 undercoating:

I primed the axles parts:

…and used Rustoleum Gloss Black on everything:

I painted the stock flanges separately, before abandoning the damaged flange.

I purchased many zip ties and clamp sets, and settled on a combination of everything:

I also bought Allen head bolts from DeloreanGo with another order. Later, when I pulled the other axle for painting and reinstalling, I ordered socket head bolts from McMaster-Carr to replace the stock hex bolts. They came in packs of 10, and with 12 bolts needed per axle, I still had to reuse a couple of stock ones. The new flange, being thicker steel, eliminated the need for lock plates. Unfortunately, it also interfered with the socket bolts! I ended up grinding down the bolt heads, then painting them before final installation:

Installed:

I probably could have spent about $15 on a CV Boot kit from a Delorean Vendor, but not being able to repair or replace my stock axle flange sent me down this rabbit hole.

Costs: