Hi, again, Vanagoners,

  I guess I should also report on my successful replacement of my 
transmission input shaft.

  Halloween weekend my pilot bearing siezed once again in while on
a kayaking trip in North Carolina.  I had sort of anticipated this,
since the last failure had left the shaft a bit rough.  Its amazing
how much trouble a little $7 bearing can be.

  Many thanks to the list member who revealed the easy way to remove 
the old bearing by toggling in a washer suitably prepared with two
flat sides.  That worked like a charm.
 
  A new clutch input shaft from VW was $60 and was relatively easy to
install.  If it had been over $100, I was starting to think about how
I would trim and sleeve the old shaft in the machine shop.  

  I also spent a fortune putting new boots on all of my CVs.  The
bearings and races look aweful!!! :-(  I'm saving my money for that
catastrophic failure.

New Years Resolution: Never again let a cracked boot wait for later.

Cheers,

Albrecht