In Her Clutches

As detailed in the last post, I got the clutch and transmission installed. I don't have any photos of the process as I had left my camera out in the rain on a brief camping adventure.
 

How the flywheel housing appeared when I opened it up. Oil mixed with clutch dust makes a goopey paste. I think that the oil was from the oil pump cover but it could have been the rear main.

I spent as much time as I had patience for cleaning up the housing. Here I am using a special tool to install the rear main seal.

The camera eventually dried out and I snapped this picture of the transmission installed plus the mess that was the battery mounting situation.

Rear of tranny and battery holder mounting brackets.

Battery holder.

The rubber bits that held the battery holder to the frame had disentegrated and the nuts were frozen to the bolts. My theory is that a battery at one point leaked acid and wreaked havoc. I got a semi-decent deal on new rubber mounts (shipped from England!).

I removed the old mounts using a Dremel, a drill with a cutting wheel, and expletives.

Some parts of the frame where the paint had been removed were showing rust. I decided to grind the bits out and paint over them. Well ... once you start grinding away, it's hard to stop. You keep seeing more spots. I realized that if I didn't force myself to put the drill down and call it good, I was going to grind the whole frame. Probably not a good idea with the engine still in place.

A good stopping point.

This is sort of related to the cleanup I have been doing. How much is good enough? I'm spending all this time on it, who knows when I'll be up in this area again, why not make it perfect, right? But then I wonder why I am spending all this time scrubbing away at little corners of the bike that aren't even going to be visible when it's assembled. It's difficult to find the correct balance. Some of these guys, when they go through their bikes, it is spotless on reassembly. But I'm going to ride this terrible beast and it probably doesn't pay to sink hours into getting the transmission housing spotless.

On a final note, I happened to notice that the shaft drain washer looked strange. I pulled the plug and found this plastic washer. Not BMW approved, I'm sure.

I swear, this thing was made from the cap of a milk jug ...