I have a 1980 Stage One. There are a few changes with parts throughout the model over the years but this repair should hold true for most of us.
My CV joints started to click when I was turning at full steering lock. That got me looking into things.
I knew that my front swivel oils seals were going bad but I had no realized just how bad. They had let a lot of water inside the swivel balls. This alone probably did not damage my parts but I am sure it helped the already very old parts wear out a little faster.
In this photo - you can see some of the "oil" draining out when I was taking things apart.
In order to get to my CV joints, and replace the swivel oil seals, I had to take things apart basically back to the axle tube. I know that there are hints, tricks, and short cuts to replacing the swivel oil seal but I figured that I was into this project this deep - I should just take it all part, clean it well, and put it back together right. It paid off in the end. Here is a photo of the whole swivel assembly removed and the old axle / CV joint taken out.
Upon inspection, I found that my CVs were not completely damaged but were showing signs of wear. There were wear grooves inside the joints where the large ball bearings rolled and the ball bearing cages were worn slightly oblong. Combined, this wear allowed the ball bearings to pinch or snag and then snap back into place (causing the clicking). I really needed new CV joints.
As we all know, new Stage One CV joints do not exist. I found several leads of people that said they had some hidden on a back shelf in their garage or shop but when it came time to talk about making a sale ... all of these leads dried up and became unresponsive.
Early Defender CV joints (part number AEU2522) are a close - but not exact match to the Stage One. The main thing that these parts have going for them is the tooth count on the axle parts. The axle shaft enters the CV joint with a 23 spline end. The Defender axle is a little shorter than the Stage One making it a challenge to install the circlip on the end of the axle in the hub (more later) and the Defender axle is fatter than the Stage One. The fatter bit means that the Defender axle will not slide in or out of the opening of the swivel housing. It is just a millimeter to large. To install the new axle part, I had to first bolt the chrome part of the swivel ball to the axle, then install the CV joint / axle, then I could install the outer portion of the swivel housing.
Old and New CV side by side
I cleaned, painted, and replaced gaskets and oil seals all along the repair. I re-shimmed the swivels to the proper preload. I replaced a few of the folding lock tabs and I also had to special order a few BSF bolts to replace the few rusty old stubborn ones that gave their life in service to this Rover. (BSF bolts are very hard to come by in the USA.)
The next three photos show the end of the Defender axle in the hub assembly. You can see that the axle does not protrude out the end of the hub flange far enough to allow the circlip to be installed. To remedy this, I took advantage of the threaded end of the axle and installed a bolt and large fender washer. The threads are BSF and I think the bolt diameter was 3/8".
This repair appears have worked but I only have a few miles on it so far. I have a friend, Dan Rao, who did this same repair to a rock crawling buggy he created using a Stage One axle and he reports no problems with a few years of hard use.
Hopefully - if any other Stage One owner finds themselves in CV trouble - they can use these parts and keep their truck moving.
