Ran out to the garage briefly while taking a break from work. After talking to a few guys in the FB VW AIRCOOLED tech help group and looking through a few videos I found a way to safely disassembly the inner race from the drive shafts using the vise and some blunt force with a socket.
Now almost all of the paint/coating that was exposed to the elements was gone or peeling. However, what was under the boot is still solid (image below).
I am not quite sure what the coating is. At first it felt like a thing powder coat but I’m not certain.
I’m going to sand as much rust off the main part of the shaft preppeing the same areas that appear to have been done originally. I think I’ll finish all the metal I’m restoring with some kind of satin chassis black finish after some kind of rust encapsulating primer. Perhaps with a few layers of a petroleum and UV resistant top coat.
Everything but the boots got a solid scrubbing down with mineral spirits and a brass brush. Both outer houses have wear patterns so I’m pretty certain I’ll install the new German replacement joints I purchased.
I could reuse the original ribbed CV boots but I’m going to clean them up a bit and then store then away with Murbella’s other original parts. (I keep everything that is not significantly damaged or a basic type of consumable.)