All mocked up with the rocker boxes sitting on top, the alloy pre unit head is all but done.
There are a lot of jobs that cannot be finished until parts get back from chrome, so anything that can be done in the meantime is what is being done around here. There was another set of rocker covers that was polished, but they were for an iron head. After switching to an alloy head, these boxes were polished up and reassembled using the new brass parts. The oil passages were all blown and poked out and new seals used in the job. The O-rings the inspection caps came with were probably fine functionally, but I really like the red line the vintage fibre seals make.
Cadmium plated hardware for this bike and some others back from the plating shop. One more of the time-consuming jobs that go along with this sort of work. Having everything in organizing boxes makes the rebuild a lot smoother.
The cylinders were blasted in prep for some paint. They are at the powder coat shop now getting a baked-on ceramic silver paint job.
Took the alloy head to Big D Cycles for some new valves, springs and guides. There were several helicoils and a spark-hole insert placed into stripped screw holes, and some new exhaust spigots were put in.
Just waiting on the clutch actuator arm and some case screws to come back from chrome to finish the gearbox assembly.
The bottom end waiting for the cylinders to come back. Studs are all back in the block.
While putting the first cylinder base stud in, it occurred to me that a set of nuts welded to handles would make installation easier. The time it can take to extract a stud can be a few minutes if it is really stuck, if the wrenches slip off the nuts or round off the nuts edges, or if you drop the nuts or stud in the case. The other problem is that it messes up the finish of the nuts even if the edges are still good. This simple tool takes away those problems and the install/removal takes less than 30 seconds. I have used the double nut method for stud extraction and installation for years, but after seeing how well these work, there are some other common sizes that would be useful to have around the shop. Both tools are identical and the handles are slightly bent to clear adjacent screws and the timing case.
Seriously, 30 seconds or less.
The primary cover just waiting for the rest of the engine.