Anyone know the generic part # for rear wheel bearings?, And what shall I do while the arms are off? Options

[stugray]

Years ago, I needed to replace the bearings on either my Ghia or 914, and the VW dealer wanted an arm & leg for OEM.

I took the part number from the bearing and called a local bearing specialty house in Denver, and they had the exact same part for less than 1/4 of what the dealer wanted.

Anyone know a cross ref. part number for rear wheel bearings?

How about the dozens of bearings on ebay? Any good?
Any ideas for the best deal?

Oh, and what is the deal with the rear bearing seals?
The manual states that if these are damaged, the entire trailing arm needs to be replaced...

While I'm at it. Both arms are off and I am cleaning them up.
What does everyone suggest I do while I have them off?

I plan on painting them, but what else should I do while I'm at it?

I have the welder at the ready, so I could do some reinforcing too.

Stu

[stugray]

Cap'n,

Could you explain the "chill and drop" method?
Is just putting it in my freezer overnight good enough? Or Dry Ice ( or I could take all the parts to work with me and use liquid nitrogen ;-)

I am used to heating things up to get them together, but obviously we dont want to heat the bearing enough for that to work.

I would just press them in with my vise, but I dont think the jaws open enough with the bearing installed in the arm already.

Looks like I'll just order them from www.PMBPerformance.com, but I want to inspect the CV joints first (didnt get that far last night) before I place the order.

Stu