ENGINE !

After a long wait (mostly due to my apathy for reasons undisclosed) the engine arrived earlier this week ! But boy, was it worth the wait ?! At first glance I was a little apprehensive of the engines condition, but as I was able to look at it more closely it soon became clear that it had not been disturbed for a great many years. In fact, it looks as if it had been taken out of service after a minor seizure in it's hey day (late 50's) and stored ever since. The engine was covered in an oily dirt encrusted condition, with all the screws perfectly intact, nothing wrong, mismatched or rounded off, just the nice original, unmarked, unmolested original slotted screws throughout. The alloy cases all nicely patinated, all matched and all without any damage or clumsy spanner marks. The crankcases were even still full of clear gear oil, not the milky gunk I had often experienced before ! Once the strip down began, it became clear that this engine had indeed only been used for a short time, once the clutch cover was removed, I noticed the primary gears appeared in perfect condition and even the clutch plates althougth slightly worn on the outer tangs were well still serviceable. The engine came via a colleague from the bottom of Sonny Angel's shop store where we can pretty much guarantee it had sat since circa 1959/60 whereupon it was replaced with his new YDS1R's. I just love that patina... it's almost a shame I "have" to restore it....