Having got the car back with the corroded chassis tube repaired, it became obvious as we unloaded it that the back axle is leaking oil. I decided it had to come out so that I could get a good look at it. The rear suspension hasn't been apart for 15 years, so it was all a bit seized up. It serves me right for not slathering it all with Copperslip when I assembled it! I resorted to making some custom pullers to push the tubes out of the A frame bushes and the shock absorber lower bushes. The 'hit it with a bigger hammer' technique doesn't work that well with rubber bushes as they soak up somuch of the initial impact. Weilding a mallet in a constrained space had resulted in a bruised finger, so I took things methodically.

Having got everyhting apart, extracting the axle is still quite tricky. Up till now the weight was being taken by a trolley jack, but with the help of my ever forgiving wife, we lifted it out (ever forgiving as earlier I had accidentally sprayed petrol over her).

So the axle is now out, stripped of brake pipes and handbrake mechanism, and I've removed the worst of the gunge. There's also no sign of the oil leak, but maybe it will show up tomorrow.

Is it time for an upgrade whilst it's out? LSD? Ratio change? It's 3.9:1 at the moment, which I find a bit short for road use, so I'm tempted to go for the more standard 3.6:1 ratio, assuming I can find one.

Any advice?