The belly of the beast...
Hey folks, at last an update on the Honda situation:
A couple of weeks ago I cruised over to Gjarner's after work, intending to pull the engine out and tear the upper half into pieces. I did just that. I got the front sprocket cover off after drilling out a screw, and pulled off the exhaust and footpegs. I got the engine out of the right hand side, and set it on the bench. Well, that was my first ever engine removal. Next it pulled the head off and tried to pull the cylinder barrels off, but the left hand piston was frozen in the cylinder. You can see why in the pic; there is a nice coating of rust in the upper half of the cylinder, while the right one is in perfect shape. I shot a bunch of penetrant in the cylinder and took off for the night.
The next night I knocked on Gjarner's door and headed to the garage. He came out shortly, and started cleaning the garage while I finally got the cylinder pulled off of the engine. Yet another first: cylinder removal. I've never had an engine down to the pistons before (Well, except for model airplane engines in high school.)
That's been about it, really. I cleaned up the frame on the enginless cycle, stored all the parts in their appropriate cardboard boxes and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter tubs, and chatted with G. I plan on taking the cylinders to Marko Customs on Garner's recommendation for a cleanup bore on the left side. Hopefully, I will not need to bore it out enough to require oversize pistons, as I am not sure of the availability of those. And you all know how much I like to deal with the local Honda shop. I still haven't received an order for all the seals for the petcock and tank for the other cycle. I went there tonight and the parts department had closed early. Go figure.
So yeah, I'll update when I find out about the cylinders.