A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.... OK - it was 2007, and about 4 miles away in our old house. My 916 had been languishing in a mate's garage while I was busy with a car project and an XT500 rebuild. By the time it was dragged out of his damp shed into daylight the damage had been done and all the ally parts were furry and the fasteners rusting, the zinc plating long since gone. I felt really ashamed for allowing this to happen to such a machine, so I dismantled it into its component parts and packed it away into plastic crates until I had time to resurrect it. In a moment of rashness and unable to find anyone who could guarantee to replicate the dirty bronze paint on the frame, I had it powdercoated satin black. Once we'd moved house I sold the XT500 and bought and rebuilt a basket case 1968 Triumph. It's now time to turn my attention to the Ducati and give it the love and affection it deserves. Cases cleaned & painted New mains and gearbox bearings fitted Ready for reassembly Checking end-float and shimming Bottom end buttoned up. New big end shells fitted. Fasteners back from the platers Getting ready to do the top end Selecting the best set of rockers Checking shims and cam timing Frame & swingarm on It's tough remembering how it all goes together after 7 years in boxes!
I can't remember! Some sort of heat-resistant engine case paint. Time will tell how it holds up. No more riding in winter, that's for sure.
Hi Steve Well spotted - yes, they're SP heads and 34/30. I checked clearances between the valve heads and the stock Strada/BP piston pockets, and as they're a fairly flat crown the clearances are OK (I had used some ridiculous high crown 12:1 FbF pistons previously). I decided to go with the stock Strada-spec cams after our conversation on another forum (I have a set of "G" inlets which came with these heads, but they're a bit on/off for the road), and I've advanced the inlets a little from their 119 spec. I used the offset keys I had lying around as I couldn't justify vernier sprockets, and with the limited number of keys I couldn't get exactly to 108/108. Everything has been set on the close side of spec - crank preload, opener/closer clearances, gear shaft endfloat - should run nice and smooth. Eddy
