Back To The Dealer

Busy weekend around the shack. I got a 20 ton load of stone for the lane and the lady truck driver did a pretty fair job of tailgating it out except for a spot where the stone didn't fall down against the gate for a few seconds leaving a blank spot. I got the tractor out and managed to push some into the blank spot but it also pushed some out into the grass along the edges. Plus, the truck was wide enough that it was dropping it out the sides of the tailgate into the grass as well. That called for the grounds crew to report to work, meaning me, of course. Took about three hours with the tractor, wheelbarrow, rake and shovel to get things where I wanted them but only two days to get the kinks out of my back.

I went out to the shop Saturday night to put the heads on the bike only to run into a couple of snags. First up was a missing washer that goes in the pushrod tube/cover. The tubes are a two piece affair with cork seals, spring, keeper, and washer. Since the pushrods are outside the motor, the spring loaded pushrod tubes allow you to lift them up to make adjustments to the pushrods inside. Since I could only find three washers, I figured I'd at least get one head bolted up and then hit the dealer Monday. Then I ran into snag number two.

The head gasket holes don't line up with the holes in the cylinder head. If you look closely at the photo you can see the holes in the gasket are out too far to get the head bolts through. The center hole is also larger in diameter. According to the parts book, there was a change during the model year for '73. I don't know if I've got an early or late gasket or an early or late cylinder head. I do know they aren't compatible, however. So in addition to the washer for the pushrod tube, I'm going to see about a couple of head gaskets. I could probably use the old ones, but I would like to know what I've got, just the same.

I did manage to squeeze a little painting in between the raindrops but nothing like what I wanted to get done. Since I was stuck on both the bike and the painting, I did a little prototyping on a clamp project I need for my wooden boat - certainly not a priority project but I can't really proceed on it until I get a few clamps with a throat depth of at least 5 inches. I've got three of the cheap Harbor Freight clamps and six more on the way. Six of them were only twenty bucks, including shipping. I'm going to make some extension pieces to slip on the sliding part of the clamp and some new bolt on ends for the fixed end. I'm going to try out my design making them from soft wood. If the idea works like I hope it will, I'll make them out of hardwood. They don't need a lot of clamping pressure but I need several of them when I glue and rivet the side planking together. I'd like to get a few more planks on the boat before it gets too cold to work with the adhesive. It also looks like I've got another woodworking project for a family member that'll be coming my way soon. I've been trying not to take on any more work but this one has to do with a rocking chair and a baby. Can't say no to this one.

Have a good week - I'll go in search of head gaskets and pushrod tube washers.