Ivy: Piston Circlip

Added a new left piston circlip...

Also realized that perhaps the gasket I'm trying to use for the points cover doesn't match the version.

Ivy: Top End Transplant

Did the second big job to switch the top end over from Astrid to Ivy.  Went rather smoothly.

Thought I was going to get stymied by a frozen head cover that wouldn't budge a millimeter once the nuts were off.  But after just a few gentle taps with the ballpeen, it freed right up.

Finally getting a chance to remove the cylinder jug on Astrid, it looks like the persistent leak had been coming from the rectangular gasket around the camchain (on the front of the jug).  So hopefully simply replacing it will stop that leak once it's on Ivy.  (And should really just replace both those rectangular gaskets anyway).

Removing the piston pin circlip was unexpectedly fiddly.

The gasket on the contact wire is looking pretty perished.

Ended up with an "extra" o-ring coming off the Astrid head cover, and didn't obviously see where it was supposed to go.  Need to double check...

Ivy: Bottom End Transplant

Used a free Sunday to do the big bottom end swap between Ivy and Red.  Had originally been planning to do all the "testing" with the Viola bottom end mounted on Red, but it would have meant having to jury rig the exhaust, which seems like more trouble than it's worth.

The actual switch went pretty much to plan.  Laid down each bike to do drop and install the engines.  At first I put the "empty" early top end back on Ivy, but then realized that in order to mount the exhaust, I'd need to have the late top end.  So switched the top ends and mounted the exhaust, which fit perfectly as expected.

Also spent a good amount of time examining Red's original wiring harness since I had access to the inside of the frame.

Notes:

• Realized that the bullet connectors are a size smaller than what I had in my kit.  I used a green points wire to connect to the black coil wire to give it enough length to easily stick out of the frame.
• The brake pedal I used was somehow too thick to allow the washer to fit and still get the cotter pin in.  I'll try a different (hopefully the original) brake.

S90 Special Tool

Nabbed this vintage S90 "Special Tool" case on eBay for $41.  Was back and forth on whether to restore it or leave it with the (pink) patina.  But in the end, I wanted to to keep it inside so had to have it looking fresh and clean.

Blue: Horn Grills in Orange

The chrome on the horn grills had started to look plain horrible (pits and corrosion), to the point where it was nagging me.  At $50 each, decided I may as well try to do something with the existing ones.  Sanded them down hard with 80 grit then painted them in orange (engine paint).

Looked good in my imagination, but not really sure how much I like it in reality.  Jury's still out...