To cut a long story short, I've completely dismantled a brand new outer CV joint in order to clean it out after getting dirt and half a circlip stuck in there. The problem I'm having, as always, is putting it back together.

The main question I've got is this: do the balls go on the inside of the ball cage (ie between the ball cage and the inner section that the drive shaft slots into) or on the outside of the cage (ie between the cage and the main body of the CV joint)? I thought that they'd just sit right in the middle, but the balls are marginally too large to fit through the holes on the cage. It's possible that this is just because it's brand new, and that after a bit of use it'd free up.

Apart from that, any tips for getting it back together?

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1977 Mini LS

A new cv is typically pretty tight, i'd give the balls a little tap with a soft hammer to get them seated.

Hold the cup part in a vice (with soft jaws) and go at it with plastic tools, poke a small screwdriver handle inside it to move the centre of it around for the job, no way would you be able to hurt it by hand doing that.

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Dean Hutton's first car was a Mini.

Great, thanks for the suggestion. I'll give it a go tomorrow.

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1977 Mini LS

That suggestion worked perfectly. It's all back together now. Thanks again.

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1977 Mini LS