Yes, it's alive again! Not 100% fit and healthy, but alive nonetheless. When I got home from work tonight, I whipped the overalls on and went straight into the garage, determined to make some progress. First job was to open up the carbs and give them one last check-over before installing them. One of the vacuum pistons wasn't sliding up and down quite as free as the other one, so that was the first thing I sorted. Then I checked the air-screws to make sure they were both 2-turns out. The carbs have been ultrasonically cleaned and
completely overhauled with new Keyster kits, so no real point in checking the jets/needles, etc.
Once they were ready to go back on, I dug out the brand new inlet-stubs and fitted new o-rings to them. Then it was simply a case of connecting the cables to the carbs (from the left hand side) and offering them into the gap without the inlet-stubs attached. Once the carbs were in position, I fitted the stubs and tightened the 8mm bolts. With the overflow tubes in place, that was the first job done! Easy!
Next job on tonight's agenda was the clutch. Last time out it was stuck solid - no doubt due to being sat idle in the garage for over two years! I removed the clutch housing and then stripped the clutch down, separating the plates and then rebuilding it. Only took 10 minutes and I managed to reuse the existing (new) gasket.
With 2.2 litres of 10/40w added to the engine, it was time to fit the petrol tank and see if she would start. I was pleased to see that the Yuasa battery had kept its charge after sitting unused for a couple of months. The starter motor positively whizzed the crank around and the old girl spluttered into life.
She revved and ticked over pretty good, but not perfectly. The exhaust is blowing around the collector box (because I failed to buy new sealing rings) and after a while, petrol started to flow from the overflow pipes (GRRRR).
But overall, I'm happy that at least she's breathing and this is definitely a step forward. From here I can start fine-tuning things. Unfortunately, I couldn't take her out on the road to test the all-important 5000rpm barrier because the new front brake reservoir is dry. That's not a job for tonight!
I'm away for the Bank Holiday weekend, so there'll be no more progress until next week. Feelin good!!!