UPDATE:
Thanks very much, everyone for your comments and suggestions. I did go see the hitch today. As best I could tell, it is still in good operational condition. The flaws appear to me to be mostly or perhaps entirely cosmetic. As I get time, I will take it apart and do whatever reconditioning is necessary. I plan to get it looking and working like a new one. But I bought it for less than a third of the price of a new one, so that leaves me plenty of room to recondition it.
Once I have completed the reconditioning, I will post some "After" pics here.
