Hoooboy!

First off, this is my first day on this list and I'm _overwhelmed_ by
the incredibly knowledgable and helpful replies to my woeful cries.
Thank you so much, those of you who made me excited and terrified at the
same time.

Now, however...  I went to VW today and bought six new CV-bolts because
I'd lost three on the road somewhere and one of the remaining three was
bent.  I ended up hammering and crankin' the hell out of that allen key
to remove the bent bolt.  Took me an hour, and I've once again got motor
sludge in my hair.

[by the way, check out this page
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/9860/bus.html
 it's the page I wrote with pictures about removing the transmission and
replacing the front seal.   it's only been three weeks and I'm supposed
to leave WEDNESDAY for NYE in the Everglades for a Phish concert... :O ]

Got the new bolts, greased it up with some Speedi-Boot moly grease and
tried putting it back on.  Big mistake not to jack up that side of the
bus.  A ball fell out.

That's where I'm at tonight, and again, we're leaving Wednesday.  I'm
sure, considering the great responses so far, that I'll know where I
stand soon.  So what's next?  Do I remove the driveshaft and disassemble
and repack and reinstall?  Do I foolheartedly attempt to reinsert the
bearing in the morning, pray it goes it, grease and reinstall?  If I
service one CV, _must_ I service the other as well?  Remember, just
gotta drive 6 hours there and 6 hours back, after that I can finish the
job?

New Years or bust,
Chris