Summer Garage Day Four: Catastrophe

Session started off brilliantly.  Got the new momentary horn switch ($15 Amazon) which worked a whole lot better than the Dime City one I'd been using.  Swapped those over and did another round of cleaning up and zip tying the wires.

Had earlier taken apart the valves on Ivy's head and simply cleaned the edges up.  Did the leak test again and presto!  All fixed, no leaks.  Started reassembling her top end and it was all going swimmingly.

Then it all went south.

I was tightening the head bolts in order to line everything up so I could insert the camshaft.  I did get a sense that they seemed to be just going and going and even with the torque set so low at 16 ft-lb, it never stopped.

Really should have listened to my inner voice screaming, "STOP!"

Then the loud (and familiar) snap as the stud bolt snapped.  Second time.  Unbelievable.  Totally blame myself, though.

Just can't understand why it never stopped on the torque wrench.  I immediately tested the wrench on Red's head bolts and it was working fine.

Ivy: Street Legal (Finally)

Big day.  After three hours at the DMV, $747 in back fees, and a few nervous moments where it seemed like it may all go south, Ivy gets her title and plates!

Top tip: appointments at the DMV are almost pointless.  Don't even bother going until you can get an appointment as soon as they open.

Ivy: Engine Modeling

Had a short session and decided to add the new clutch cover to the Early engine and mount it to Ivy.

Looks nice, though I did knock a big chunk of paint off the bottom of the frame in the process.