I used the JOIN comand, and then worked on this "joined" part, adding more features. ( Cut-Revolve, Cut-Sweep, Pattern, etc....)

I then gave the base parts (those that make up the new "joined" part) part numbers.

    I tried this two different ways.

              1. renamed the indiviual parts in Windows Explorer

               2. using the "save-as" command

Option 1 - does not uplate linked files in the joined part.

Option 2 - updates the links, but the parts have errors.

What I'm interested in is being able to do sometihng similar to the "replace" command when replacing parts in an assembly, but doing this with the referenced parts that make up the "joined" part.

Thanks,

Todd