It was one of those days when nothing goes right, with a simple job cascading into a series of woes.  The simple job was removal of the chrome “bling” panels on the head for a proper "retro" look.  I’m sure cooling will benefit too, as these cosmetic covers reduce heat convection and radiation.  

Naturally that tiresome tank had to be moved to get the locating bolts out and all went well until the first dropped washer disappeared with an ominous “clink.”  Murphy and his evil law dictated it must go in the dreaded “black hole” under the starter.  I couldn’t toss it in there if I tried yet the irresistible forces sucking all objects in must surely originate in the Bermuda Triangle.  

How stupid too, as I read here a zillion times to cover this sink hole before working above.  So now I tried poking under the starter with flexible plastic probes but of course it was not so simple.  Next that useless cover plate behind the starter had to be removed for easy access – but wait, then there’s the belt drive cover to get access to the 8mm bolts.    

Finally I had room for my probing strips that sure enough pushed the washer tantalizingly in sight.  No way to get a hold of it of course, so now a series of delicate maneuvers worthy of a brain surgeon brought the offending article within reach of my trusty magnetic “graboid.”

So a 15 minute job ended up over an hour-thirty with all this fiddling around.  Lesson learned well – cover that black hole before you even think of working in, on, around or near this cosmic force field!

That's actually where the oil seal for the speedo cable is suppose to go. At least that's where I put it. And like you, I never could have done it on my own. So that's were I keep it for now. Their are no leaks and I don't know if it's still there but winter's coming and this year I'm actually gonna "put her down" and get some "Custom Mods" done.
"Black Hole"..... "Bermuda Triangle", makes sense to me.

slavy wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:10:

That was mean

20 years of crud left over from the previous owners. God only knows where they really parked it...

jkhulon73 wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:10:


How very European! I once dated this French girl that... er... um... but I digress.  

rokrover wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:10:


Rokrover,
   Do you realize that it only takes about five minutes to remove tthe starter?  Maybe less after you've done it a couple of times.  Ten minutes (5 take off + 5 back on) to get the part you dropped.