It’s cold here in Maryland—the thermometer is in the twenties but when the wind kicks up it goes into the low teens. This didn’t stop me, however, from bundling up and getting outside to get some stuff done on one of my days off. First, I mixed up a cocktail of ATF and acetone and poured it down each of the cylinders on the 800. There are many different schools of thought on the best penetrant for this kind of thing; some folks swear by Kroil or PBblaster, others use WD40, and still others swear by the ATF/acetone mixture. This is my first try with this homebrew mixture personally, so we’ll see how it goes. I also pulled the battery out of the Travelall and dropped it into the 800 to see if any of the wiring survived. Hooking the leads up produced no smoke or flames, so I turned the key to ACC and flipped the lights on with no results. I’m sure the mice got in and chewed up the harness somewhere, so I’ll have to hotwire the engine to start it, and eventually pull the dashboard apart to see what the full electrical story is.

Then I shifted focus to the Travelall. Jacking up the driver’s side rear, I pulled the tire and got the U-bolts off with little trouble. With that, the U-bolt plate and shock came off, so I moved to the rear spring perches and unbolted those from the body. Up front, after I adjusted my jack points to relieve weight on the leaf spring, I got the front unbolted and pulled the entire spring pack out from under the truck.

Having learned on the driver’s side, I had the passenger side off in about half the time, and left the truck high and dry with the axle only connected to the truck by the transmission and brake lines. Now I’ve got to get the spring packs into the shop for a rebuild, which will hopefully improve the ride. I expect the front springs to be much more of a challenge, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.