Bugg@r! Just doing the second side of this job and I've broken the snap ring. Can't get one anywhere over the counter, so now waiting for an ebay delivery, what a pain. Bit too brutal 'tapping' the joint back onto the shaft, although I remember this ring being a tight one when I originally fitted it. Not too happy with the price for the boot kit either, it's clearly a universal one rather than a specific Boxer part as the boots have to be cut down on the large end to fit. But they do seem better than the ones that came with the new joints, much more supple and under less stress on full lock, so I'll see how they get on.
As an aside, I've stripped down and rebuilt the joints to make sure there's no crud in there from the split boots. Obviously I'll have to strip down this one again as there's now a piece of snap ring floating around in the grease somewhere. But although I've fitted loads of new cv joints, I've never dismantled one before. Aren't they amazing! Beautiful in their simplicity, hats off to Mr Rzeppa! But can the cage be fitted in two positions? I'm sure these have gone back together as they came out, but the machining on each side of the cage is very slightly different, and one side is actually opposite to how the other one was. From what I can see, it won't make a difference which way the cage goes in, bearing in mind these joints are quite new and there is no visible wear.