If Chicken and Waffles Could Extract Bolts...

The wrenching Monday began with a delicious Chicken and Waffles meal.

The first casualty of the night was our friend Mr. Beetle.  He went for a swim in the cup of WD-40 RIP

Moving right along...I rebuilt the front forks and filled them with ATF fluid.  What a difference with the new seals and fresh oil!

 

Next Matt removed the transmission and crank to clean out the sludge at the bottom of the engine.

 

 

Matt noticed this on our top half of the case: SL250...hmmm

Say...that kick start gear is missing a tooth!

 The next item of discontent was this sheared engine bolt.  The bolt is steel and the case aluminum.  They've become quite attached over the past 35 years.

 After exhausting all options with the vice grips, Matt resorted to heat to try and get it out.  This is an oxygen bubble and the torch did not look like that all the time folks ;)

So some heat, a hammer, vice grips and...nothing - just a rounded bolt.  Bugger all.

Stymied in that direction, it was time to work on rebuilding the triple tree.  Despite bearings rolling all over the garage upon disassembly all 36 (18 1/4" bearings on each side) were accounted for.

 

 

TADA!!!  The first bit bolted onto the frame :)

We also rebuilt the rear shocks after having painted the springs.  This was in preparation for the swingarm installation.  A rolling chassis is on the horizon!!!