Hey guys, sorry to flood the rubber side down with threads but when I'm not riding or working on it, I guess I'll just talk about it.  After today it gets cold as hell so I'm putting my bike up in the shop this afternoon.  Now I really have the time to get into the bike and do some of the stuff I've been putting off.  I want to do some customization but before that I want to get this thing running like it should.  I love how good the savage looks as a bobber, maybe that will be next winter.  It's a 1986 at 14,400 miles.  I really don't have much experience inside the engine, but I'm hoping to fix that over winter.  Here are some things I want to do:

Front forks are pitted and need some polishing.
Replace my air box with a cone filter
Find a scrap Harley or other muffler (maybe replace the header too, it's pretty rusted, or maybe I'll just wrap it)
Maybe add an inline fuel filter (Already got Raptor petcock)
Cam chain tensioner!! It's that time. Don't know much about it though.
Sand/Polish up all the metal! Maybe some paint, but I don't know if it will fit my budget.
Rejet the carb, don't know much about this.
Find and fix my oil leak
Replace rear brake shoe
MAYBE fit a wider rear tire and switch to a chain? Idk about this. I need new tires anyway.
Double maybe get a new carb/cam from lancer?  I want all the horses in the world.
Maybe replace the clutch? Don't know anything about this yet.
Definitely replace the 25 year old brake fluid

I'd really like to take the engine apart and replace all the gaskets and piston rings, sort of like in this thread : http://suzukisavage.com/cgi-bin/YaBB.pl?num=1246924611


Where can I get the parts for doing all of this?? (Especially the gasket set)  I live in NC, but do all my shopping online anyway.  There's a few junkyards around here but I don't know if they have motorcycles.  If I had to set a budget of 2 or $300 which of these things should I prioritize?  

I would be glad to take pics and document any of these things as I do them.  I'm not the most experienced, but maybe my mistakes can help someone else.

Where should I buy a gasket set from? I've seen them on eBay for around $70. There's a Suzuki stealership in town but I haven't checked prices there yet. I've been having a good time disassembling so far. On an 86 nothing comes apart easily or in as few steps as the manual suggests. My next step is to remove the engine from the frame. I'll build a bench mount for it before I do that. When I drained the oil I got less than half a quart. I'm still laughing to myself about that.

Check the junk yard for the starter gear assembly. A couple of hints from experience (I'm also doing my '86). If they have a replacement limiter gear it will be a post '95 motor. Be sure they take it out in ONE piece. DO NOT undo the snap ring. If they pull the starter gear out to the right of the limiter (it just slides out of the case), the limiter gear will come out in one piece. ALSO: take your old side cover and see if they will swap you straight across for your old cover for the newer one, there is a post in the case that won't fit the newer gear and you'd have to machine the old case.  (The junkyard here did that for me).

You can lube the cable, grease the connector at the brake plate, the splined shaft that goes through the brake plate, even the pedal.  DON'T grease the brakes.

I've seen a thread or two on here about removing some of the pad.  I think it was because of grabbing but might have been noise related too.  

Mine usually squeak the first and sometimes the second time I use them that day.  Then, no more squeak until next day.

Very helpful, thanks.

What about greasing the cam shaft? I think the manual says something about molybdenum disulfide grease.

Also the guy at the dealership says oil from your fingers is enough for sealing the plug cap. Is this true?