Week night tinkering..

Had a bit of spare time, so back to the stuck shock top...
Still no luck. Its well stuck in there. So to feel some form of achievement, shock no.2 was brought out. The spring compressor did a marvelous job again. but this time the top cap came off.

Cap off..

All the inside bits and pieces..

Inside there was an interesting amount sand/grit inside mixed in with the remnants of the old thick  shock oil ( i have a feeling it was actually engine oil!). A combination of both elements confirmed the need to pull out all of the innards, give them a good clean and reassemble properly, with the correct fluids.

 The inner seal looks to be in great condition, but the top rubber is a bit crap. couldn't hurt to replace all..

Lets see how shock 3 turns out..

The friendly guys at Russian Iron forums are helping out with choosing the correct replacement oil these shocks should be filled up with.

EDIT:  The general opinion from they guys at Russian Iron was Synthetic 5w fork oil, for a better general performance and ride. 
With these hard working oils, oil quality makes a difference. A trusted quality and well established brand, Castrol seemed the natural the choice here..

The material for the new seat cover arrived also. So the pattern for the seat back panels were measured out and cut..

Panels measured, ready for cutting. i went for a black leather material, very similar to the OEM one