well well well. the diff is fixed and back in the car, plus i put new bendix pads in the rear. very, very happy with the service and price from coastal driveline specialists at charmhaven on the central coast. i rang them wednesday for a quote, dropped the diff off on thursday and picked it up on friday and the price was as quoted...
got some help from a mate and my wife (and dad later on) to put the diff in, we did a decent job considering none of us knew what we were doing (at least i had the benefit of actually looking under the car when i was taking it out). and now i have a rough idea of how things work under there
very rewarding to fix things yourself, just wish i didn't have to break it first and get in trouble off the boss
cheers for the help peoples
-tim