And the Journey Begins

[John]

Traffic jam

All pistons and rods are now on the crankshaft, and rod caps are torqued to spec. The new clutch discs have been installed in the clutch basket. Gaskets are adhered to their respective covers. I have gone as far as possible without the new main bearing and ring set. The rings should be here by Saturday, so I can hopefully get the top end assembled. I should be able to roll the upper bearing half into the crankcase, with out removing the rod end caps. Cross your fingers.

[John]

Well, Yama dealer and Wiseco both finally delivered last week, so the bearings and rings are installed and the crankcase torqued, and topped off with the cylinders, and the head. Clutch is installed, and the covers are on. I've gone as far as I can without putting it in the frame. I am at the point where the next step is removing the old engine, and removing the ignition/vacuum advance pieces, and the alternator from the old engine, so I can set the cam timing on the new engine. I need to polish the brite work for the new engine. Then cleaning/painting the front frame rails, and detailing the front of the bike. I want it to look half- decent when the new engine goes in.
It's kinda anti-climactic now... All that's left is...STARTING ON IT!

[John]

Well, the old lump is on the floor, and the next step is cleaning/painting the frame rails. Most of the brite work has been polished, and is nice and shiny. Got the cams timed on the new motor, and didn't hit any pistons doing it. The new motor/painted frame should be ready for installation next week . I'm getting close, but don't want to rush it. I'd hate to screw something up at this stage. Anybody have any suggestions on how to protect the frame rails when installing the engine? I've used strips of leather before, but I was thinking about using an old inner tube this time, and tie wrap it to the frame rails.

[John]

New motor is in the frame, and no damage to the freshly painted rails. I wrapped them with the old inner tube, and had two more sets of hands assisting me. It went in really well. The U joint flange boot was a PITA, though. I should be able to get a lot of the pieces and parts on tomorrow. Hope to have it fired up by Thursday. It shore does look purty, though.