An Obsession

Lots done today! Painting, polishing (a mistake, more on that in a bit) valve clearances checked, shims pulled... I am a machine! First, the painting.

Things went fairly well with the painting. Here's a couple of before and mid and after shots: The finished product didn't turn out as nicely as I wanted, and part of me wants to restrip it and do it again. But in retrospect, it's been through enough. It's passable, all things considered.

I kind of wish the YICS portion was a bit more shiny, but when I was wet sanding with MeTaL GloSS, it messed up the paint. Yeah, Ishould have waited a few days to let it cure, but all things considered, I think it turned out all right. I still need to pick up some gasket sealant, but I am going to be waiting a few days before I reinstall it anyway. I am trying to figure out if I need new shims. I think I do... I am starting to think that maybe I didn't do the clearance test correctly.
Yet the majority were in spec, so I'm just not sure.



I currently have one shim pulled awaiting instruction from some of the fine folks at xjbikes.
It doesn't seem to make any sense to reinstall shims you are going to replace. Once I figured out the trick, it was pretty simple to do. Perhaps I should reinstall them and see if I get a different number.

I've had a lot of fun today. Learned quite a bit, and learned you can do a lot more with a zip tie than previously thought.

More later.