E36 M3! Staked u-joint

My 'new' E36 M3 has about 1.5" of dead-zone in the steering.  The tie rods look brand new and the rack is tight -- I assume in an attempt to cure this issue. I bought a new rubber steering coupler, but the one that's on it looks fine.  Turns out all of the slop is coming from the top u-joint in the steering shaft.  

A new steering shaft with the integrated joint is about $300.  Thanks to the internet, I found out that the joint itself is an AS-1540 and about $16. I ordered one, just to say I've had the experience.

Question:  Who has replaced small, staked-in u-joints and how would you recommend to attack this?  Or should I drop it off at the local machine shop and let them deal with it?

The offending joint:

The AS-1540:

I would use a die grinder and carbide burr to take out the staking and then swap the joint.

A light tack with a mig should keep it in place once you get it back together.

ShawnG said:

I would use a die grinder and carbide burr to take out the staking and then swap the joint.

A light tack with a mig should keep it in place once you get it back together.

 

Yep - exactly this. 

93gsxturbo said:

ShawnG said:

I would use a die grinder and carbide burr to take out the staking and then swap the joint.

A light tack with a mig should keep it in place once you get it back together.

 

Yep - exactly this. 

I have all those things.  I'll post up pics.  Thanks!

Check this slop out.

It had a ton of slop on one axis and 40lb of drag on the other.  Bad news.

Also...about as much fun to get the steering intermediate shaft out as extracting your own tooth.