I've got a 1970 145 S with a rear diff that has lots of wear and has never been overhauled to my knowledge. The car has over 450,000 miles on it, and the differential is making normal differential noise (albeit quite a bit of it) and has a little play in it and such... nothing huge or major but at some point it would be nice to go in and put new bearings in, shim everything into proper mesh, and hopefully take care of the noise and get it rolling more smoothly.

So, the question: has anyone done this job? How would you tackle it, what should I look for, what advice would you give someone planning such an undertaking? Or would I be better off just swapping in an axle that doesn't have almost half a million miles on it?

Your advice is appreciated!

-sam