I got the P/S pump and reservoir pulled off last night. It took me a minute to realize I had to pry off the AC compressor (after removing 4 bolts on side) due to the bosses/sleeves on the back of it that press into the P/S bracket.
I used the same technique to remove the balancer bolt as I did on my 4.0: wrap a cut, old belt clockwise around pulley, tie off on alternator bracket bolt, pop the bolt loose with a breaker bar:
There's other ways to do it, but they all seem harder or riskier or need special tools.
Although disassembly is taking me a while (I only get to work on it about 45 min a night), I've been pleasantly surprised how trouble-free it's been. I'll probably eat my words when I pull the balancer or timing cover haha. For a 190k truck with rust in the quarters, the fasteners in the engine bay are remarkably not corroded -- most of the bolts still have their yellow chromate over the zinc:
This makes me think the rust in the quarters is primarily a result of the Mounty having driven on rural roads for all its life and the gravel just ate away all the sealant on welded seams around the back wheels. It sure doesn't seem like the vehicle was driven through nasty salt that eats a whole car from bottom to top. While the rust in the quarters and rockers isn't ideal, I also won't feel bad about using the truck as a winter beater/farm truck -- and it should be a very good one at that.
Last side note, I realized in the oil drip pan you can see my under hood light's reflection and that's the night sky surrounding it. Yep, I'm doing all this work outside at night. My days are too busy and I don't have a garage anymore -- the old me would've used those as excuses but I've come to realize that if I waited for the perfect time and place, I'd never get anything done. So do your best with what you have (even if it's just a cracked concrete slab in a field) and keep on wrenching!
