Bill's 450 Update

So OK, got to be at home this weekend, just spent a couple hours shivering in the unheated shop.

Found the oil leak - I stupidly missed a small piece of the old gasket on the clutch cover, it made a small bulge when I applied the new gasket, and leaked a little. Some previous owner had used Permatex, and I spent many hateful hours swearing and scraping away old gaskets on this engine (blast from the past). I guess it's not surprising that I missed a small piece.
That stuff (old Permatex, the icky brown/black crap) is from the Devil, I hate it, might as well use epoxy. Thank God for silicon........

Is that stoopid enough for a Homer Award ??? Maybe not, but we don't have any Nominees yet this month.

Anyway, got the old seat foam off, prepping the pan for an MSR soak, then to repaint. I noticed the pan is cracked in one spot - I'll need to get someone to try and weld it. I'm the world's WORST welder, don't have the equipment anyway.
Odd, because my Dad may have been the world's best welder, and he tried to teach me - but I just never had the touch.

Finished the side cover emblems - I'm not entirely happy with them, but I'll use them anyway. I'll need to fashion some sort of grommet thing for the emblem/cover interface, as the originals are entirely rotted and no longer available (naturally).

Like I said, the fun never ends.........