axle & CV joint replacement

[davidpertuz at mindspring.com]

Can't procrastinate any longer on replacing the LHS axle on my G20, what with three trips to MI coming up soon. So, since I've got next Monday off, I'll take Sunday and Monday for maintenance stuff on the car. 

is swapping the ABS ring just a matter of being very careful and chiseling it off the existing axle and then tapping it onto the new one? I discovered the replacement I have doesn't have an ABS ring on it. I don't want to break the ring, of course, since getting a replacement would be a PITA, I think.

Is there a sure-fire visual indicator that a given axle is, indeed, an axle for a LSD-gearbox G20 rather than an open-diff G20? I have no reason to think my replacement is wrong, but then again I wasn't expecting it to lack the ABS ring, either. better to find out before I tear the corner apart. 

Does anyone know any good axle rebuilders in the Chicago area that can be recommended? I know there are at least a couple of you here - Pat Epley's in the burbs, and Larry's down the street. I did booger the threads on my axle thanks to being a dum-dum when I put a new engine in, but I'm considering just rebuilding the existing axle, since OE is good.

thanks,
David