torsion-bar seals & squeals

I have recently begun driving my '70 bug after not driving it much for
the last 6 years. (Short story: The brand new master cylinder that I
used replace an old one 6 years ago turned out to be defective as well.)

My first question concerns the rubber boots & seals on the front end.
It looks like the rubber seals on the torsion bars are crumbling. I
guess that's to be expected on a car that's nearly 40 years old. I also
noticed that the rubber boots on the ball joints & the outer tie-rods
are cracking. When I grease the front end, I can see grease oozing from
the corners of the rubber boots/seals. I know that these rubber parts
will eventually need to be replaced. The question is: How *soon* do
they need to be replaced? If I keep the front end well greased, can I
put off replacing the various seals/boots until next spring?

My next question is related to an unusual squeal that happens when the
car is slowing down to a stop. It sounds like a disc brake squeal
except that my car doesn't have disc brakes. It doesn't seem to be
related to braking so much as to the car moving forward for that split
second before it completely comes to a stop. Any idea what might
be causing this and where I might check first?

Any thoughts & clues would be greatly appreciated!

--
Chip
San Francisco, CA

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