Porsche 928 rear wheel bearing replacement

The previous owner of my 928GTS removed the rear spacers and fitted standard studs so i bought studs and spacers to put back to original. As the front disc backplates were rusty i decided to strip all 4 wheels and check everything out. Beginning to wish i hadn't.
Fronts have gone OK but rears have become a nightmare. Drivers side came apart easily and other than some rear backplate screws shearing off
which i drilled out no major snags. ( steel in alluminium for 25 years is not good)
Nearside was completely different. All backplate screws sheared but worse was the rear outer bearing pulled in half when i tried to extract the hub.
I now cannot get the circlip out to replace the bearing despite soaking in WD40 its rusty and firmly stuck. I have large circlip pliers, i have tried tapping it around in the grove to loosen it and tried bending it out.
One option is to drill into the hub at the back of the circlip and use a pin punch to dislodge it but before doing that i am wondering is there is something on the market with pins that can be located in the circlip and then be compressed with a a screw clamp to loosen the circlip.
I am sure i am not the first with this problem so does anyone have any suggestions please

Mine were a bit stubborn, but I was able to bend them out eventually and get a screw driver behind them. Its well worth changing all the wheel bearings though, it transformed my S2.

porsche 928 rear wheel bearing replacement

The good news is i got the circlip out. The holes in the circlips are not totaly covering the bearing behind so i sharpened a pin punch to a point and manager to tap it through the hole thus dislodging the rusted up circlip. Bit of levering with a screw driver and out it came.
Now my next problem, getting the bearing out without removing the drive shaft. There is 7mm clearance between the splines and the bearing bore. i have 3 pieces of 6mm threaded bar which will slide down the gap at 120 deg to each other. I am going to weld a step on the end of each piece of bar, push it down the bore and turn it 90 deg so that it is behind the inner bearing.
My problem is that i do not know the diameter of the hole in the back of the bearing carrier so not sure how high to make the steps. If i make the steps too high they will catch on the casting not on the bearing. to small and they will slip out.

Can anyone tell me the diameter of the hole in the casting behind the bearing.

I would highly recommend removing the hub and pressing the old bearing out with a press. As long as you can get the big pins out! Then press the new one in.

Porsche 928GTS rear bearing repklacement

Taking the hub out would be a good option but trying to get the bottom pivot shaft out put me off that option. Having said that its been a marathon job but now almost there.
First the circlip. Tried drilling in from the outside of the hub but no luck when hitting through with a pin punch. Finally sharpened a pin punch and drove it through the partly covered hole in the circlip. This dislodged the ends and then i could get a screwdriver behind to get it out.
Bearing removal. Now that was a problem. As the drive shaft was in place i had a 7mm wide ring around the splines so made some stepped ends on 3 bits of threaded bar. They snapped immediately so new approach required.
Realising the shaft would have to come out but seeing some corroded heads on the driveshaft allen screws looked for another solution. Took handbrake cable out, top suspension mount off, disconnected the drop link and slackened off the rear nut on the lower suspension pin. This allowed the hub to pivot down and away from the shaft.. It was tight and only just came out but at least if gave me unrestricted access through the bearing.
Tried a slide hammer which just bounced and hurt my hand. Made a puller with 16mm bolt, waste of time. i should have known everything on this car is big and heavy. Went to 20mm bolt and 3ft spanner and eventually it came out.
Putting new bearing in was simple by comparison as it was in the freezer for a few days and i warmed the hub with a fan heater.
Thought i was finished but assembling the brake shoes found 3mm had broken off the end of the long spring so awaiting new one. These cars just don't give up when they want to be uncooperative.
Lessons learnt.
1) These cars are big and heavy. light tools do not work so don't even try. In retrospect i should have bought/ borrowed/hired/ begged for the correct Porsche bearing puller. It would have saved so much time.
2) I sheared the bolts holding on the rear brake backplate so had to drill them out. Back two that support the tyre pressure sensor no problem to put a long screw and nut on the back. Front top screw can also be a long bolt and nut on the back. Lower front cannot be nutted as you interfere with the caliper.Only option is to drill out and tap thread in the hub. take care that bolt does not extend out through the hub as it may interfere with caliper.

3) As calipers were off for cleaning i loosened the bleed nipples to ensure they were free ready for bleeding. Just as well as one snapped.and i had to get it extracted. I would have really been annoyed if i had assembled everything and then had it snap on me. When i come to bleed the brakes in next few days each nipple will come out and be lubricated.

I only started the job to put extended studs on the back to fit the correct GTS spacers. It then escalated when the rear bearing split on removing the hub. Whilst up in the air it made sense to look at the brakes so included checking out and cleaning up the calipers and hubs. That alone opened up another can of worms.
It has taken about a month on and off whilst getting tools and bits sorted. But when i question the effort i have put in i just sit in the car close the door and enjoy. Isn't this what classic motoring is all about ?
Can't wait for the next drive!