Next question/issue, oh great Gurus of the 'Zuk Thumper:

Petcock appears to be leaking.  Is this common?  If I leave it on "Pri," will it stop?

--Jaeger

I can't really tell where the leak is -- i just know the whole unit is wet with gasoline when i leave it sit for a few days.  I'm trying turning the petcock to "pri" and see if it will not leak, but...  

Thanks for the tip on the technical section -- i didn't see one, but i also didn't look that hard.  

--Jaeger

If the whole pet...k is wet, I think your gasket is a goner. I work on hydraulic system on airplane and the first sign of leakage is 90% of seal/gasket failure.

I was asking the sellers on the 2004 bike that petc0ck is from if it was under water or not as they seem to be selling good looking metal parts and I like to get a head to test some port work on - they told me I was asking them too many questions and they didn't have time - so I guess I'll  mark biker2biker off the list.

You must have talked to someone new over there at biker2biker. They are unfailingly kind to me and take time to answer any question I ask even when they know I'm a dumba$$ female. Give them another try, I know they have just move into new quarters and expanded, so have some new help too. Chuck is the owner and has not only gone out of his way to help me, he's sent a follow up email to thank me for my business.

Ok, I'll try them again - but from looking at the rust on engine guard that can off the '04 they are breaking down I think that answered my question for me - yes this bike spent some time under salt water so it seems likely the steel parts on the head - rockers,camshaft and such are going to have flash rust.

On the ports, I want to open up the exh to match a single wall head pipe and knock as much of the trash out of the flow as possible, lots of it on the "ceiling". Thought about bigger valves but just a longer duration lobe would likey do it.