Wayhey - top end of the engine is now stripped down :) I'm guessing it's the first time since it was built at the Honda factory in 1977 too, judging by the reluctance it showed to come apart!
Lots of patient hammering using a wood block didn't appear to be making much headway after half an hour or so, so I followed the Haynes manual guidance that I might have to resort to VERY gentle levering with a tyre lever and off it popped! The barrel was just as hard to get off but eventually it knew it was beaten and gave in :)
What great condition it's in - I'd hoped it would show little wear, with having done only 10k miles, and it didn't disappoint me. The pistons and bores have no visible wear, camshaft and bearings look in great nick etc. You can still see the honing marks on the barrels and there is no "lip" at TDC at all. The piston crowns and valves look a bit coked up, as if it's been running rich, but that ties in with my reckoning that it was first taken off the road because of a carburation/choke issue.
I'm just waiting for my new valve spring compresor to arrive now, then I can strip the head down and send the head, barrels and cam cover off for vapour blasting, hopefully later this week.
I'll post some "before" photos of the engine asap.
NOTHING stopping the start of the rebuild then. The wheel and head bearings have been dispatched to the freezer for a couple of days, which I'm told will make them easier to fit - we'll see :)
Happy as a pig in sh1t tonight!
As an aside, the last engine I stripped down this far was on one of the G5s - 1978ish. My abiding memory from that is that it had badly scored cam bearings etc and I shoved it all back together again quick, hoping it would be OK! It ran for a while longer like that, but they weren't exactly known for their longevity in the hands of ham fisted monkeys like me! It's nice to be doing things properly this time!
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