1- Savington makes a good point. If possible, swap the axles with the hubs still attached. No need to take the control arms however- in fact I think it's slightly easier to leave them hanging on the car and separate the hubs from them, than to try leaving them attached to the hubs and remove the whole assembly.

2- It is very difficult to detach the PPF from the diff while it's in the car. However it is very easy to do on the ground when you can attack it from above. I chose to remove the diff and PPF as a single unit. Just detach the ground wire and unclip the wiring harness that runs alongside the PPF, and remove the speedo cable. Then you can easily unbolt the PPF from the transmission. When you unbolt the diff, just lower the whole assembly to the ground and bring it out as a unit. Remove the long bolts that hold the PPF to the diff while it's still in the car- easier to get leverage this way.

 

I sure am glad I don't live in an area where they salt the roads. I assume that the previous owner of my '90 never took it to the beach because there is very little rust anywhere. None of the bolts were siezed, the axles weren't frozen in the hubs and the spacers came out without too much fuss. Biggest problem I've had so far is a rear caliper frozen to the slider pin and I was able to fix that.

 

1/2" Blue Point impact took the axle nuts off my 93 with very little drama. The whole swap was easy as pie, expect for FedEX losing my first diff. Sounds like I'm finally going to get a pay out on that nearly 3 months later!

 

pics would be great, love the long write ups....