Interspersions

Shiny, shiny,shiny, oh so very shiny

With the engine cleaned, Johnny got hold of a gear change shaft oil seal and I borrowed a seal pick off of Toby and dug the old one out and then fitted the new one using a piece of tube as a drift. That neatly avoided taking the clutch cover off and removing the clutch, so that was a bonus. Since that should persuade all the oil to remain inside the engine, I got on and painted it, and then left it for a couple of days to allow the paint a chance to fully harden.

A bit on the side, so to speak

Getting the engine back into the frame without damaging wither the paint on the frame or the paint on the engine is best done by lying the engine on it's side and lowering the frame over it, since the frame is considerably lighter than the engine. Obviously lying the full weight of the engine on shiny black paint that hasn't fully hardened is going to leave you with quite badly marked shiny black paint. It also helps if you have all the engine fasteners and mounts placed where you can reach them. The frame went over the engine, the studs dropped in with practically no drama at all, and there it was, done.

A fine, upright, citizen once more

In a surprisingly short space of time, the engine was reunited with the frame and stood upright on the box. At this stage it all starts to look like a motorcycle once more, and it becomes easier to raise some enthusiasm for the project. Of course it immediately becomes apparent that there are plenty of other things that need a serious cleaning before they'd look like they belonged on the motorcycle.

Togetherness

My friend Emily came to the workshop in the week and did a sterling job of getting all the old paint, grease and other crap off of the yokes, before she gave them a coat of primer. That meant that all I had to do was blow them over with some gold paint from an aerosol can to match the rear shocks and find the bearings before I could refit them.

Currently I'm trying to get the wheels cleaned up and repainted, along with their discs. I think I'm just going to get a new chain and sprockets since the engine sprocket is worn  to the point the teeth have started hooking, and the rest of it isn't much better. More expense....

Interests.

Violence. Often the only way.

Having been to the pub, I did eventually turn my attention back to cleaning the Z250 engine. Though, it seemed prudent to remove the remains of the rubber engine mounts prior to investing too much effort in cleaning the engine. The mountings are essentially bits of rubber hose with an inner sleeve at either side of the engine and have a spacer tube between the inner sleeves. Drilling out some of the rubber was a step in the direction of progress, and the journey was completed by the scientific application of "Ingrid", my pet hammer. As you can see, it was just a little rusty in there...

There are whistles that aren't as clean

 Having conclusively proved that the corroded remains of the rear engine mounts weren't necessarily a permanent feature of the engine, then there seemed to be little else to do but to clean it. A can and a half of aerosol engine de-greaser eventually saw most of the grime, grease, and gooeyiness rinsed off, and then it was down to an application of paint stripper to remove the horribly mutilated factory black finish.

You're in the frame for this one...

The Trumpety Springless frame has occupied a little of the intervening time, but vis-a-vis the frame, that's job done now. As I mentioned earlier there may be some minor pedantry involving fitting the twin leading shoe Triumph brake into the Suzuki forks. Though, thinking about it, to call it minor pedantry may be to understate the case some what. We shall see...

Mounted from the rear....

I've been unhappy with the appearance of my welding ever since I got back to it after my accident in 2002. I made a conscious effort not to weld the Triumph frame in a deeply fatigued stupor, and I think it all looks a lot better for it, though sadly it just adds more time to the already extended process. It all drags on for far too long which makes it less than viable as a commercial venture these days.

A little young, but....

In a similar vein, I came to the conclusion that I was never going to have the energy to get my Softail sorted out, and so I sold it  and bought myself a Sportster. It's a 2004 883 of some description, and it now runs, has an MOT, and is taxed and insured. To celebrate, I went out and bought myself a leather jacket, my first since the last one was cut off of me. That's a "vintage", or "second hand" leather jacket, as I'm probably of an age where a recent Harley and a new leather jacket makes you look like you're having a mid-life crisis.