Well I tackled the seal last night. As I removed the 8 bolts to the hub the oil was just running out. Thankfully the new brake pads were bone dry.
Hub and axle sliped right out with minimal effort. No groove to contend with, just one grenaded seal. I cleaned everything up, repacked the bearings and had everything back together in about an hour. I had cleaned out the vent last fall so I was good to go there. Next will be a pinion seal.
One trick I used was to lay the drum down right-side up and fit the hub over the top threading the studs through the holes. I put one a couple of lug nuts to hold it in place. This gave me a solid platform to stand one while I pried out the old seal with a small but handy crowbar.
