Fuel for Thought

Spring Cleaning

I usually don’t take this much time off in one stretch, but I’m getting a lot done. Oil and filter change, check. 580,000 miles on the odometer. It took a four foot cheater bar to loosen the drain plug for the differential case. Fuchs makes really nice bottles for the differential oil. The bottle has a built in filler tube, so a funnel isn’t required. Anyone want to buy the empty bottle that I’m not saving? If not, I’ll give it to you. The auxiliary air conditioner is out, and I replaced the weight with a vacuum cleaner. I never used the ac in the past year, so it qualifies as dead weight. I’ll definitely use the vacuum cleaner, and it’s lighter than the ac, so it’s a win-win. I replaced the radio antenna that ice sheared off around the new year. I once again receive bunches of stations. The antenna is held in place with a very strong adhesive tape. After removing the nut on the underside of the roof panel, I suggest lying on your stomach when trying to overpower the adhesive. If someone was to sit on the front curve of the roof while wrestling with the antenna base, I can vividly picture someone sliding down the front of the van and shearing off the antenna (again), the windshield wipers or body parts. It took a scraper and two pound hammer to release the antenna base adhesive. I’m finally down to bare metal on some of the worst body rust. I’ve been wanting to remove the side molding for a couple years. Rust Reformer is the primer, and everything should be white and reassembled by the end of the weekend. Beehives are finished, still no beeyard.

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