It has been dead around here, hasn't it?

Well, I can't speak for other members of the group, but sadly my life has taken a decided turn away from machinery. (But this does not prevent me from noticing a perfectly restored red Sunbeam Tiger at a car show in Redwood City, then going inside to examine it more closely, marveling at the audacity of the Shelby engineers who packed a Ford V-8 inside its diminutive bonnet.)

The 1969 Chevrolet has been given back to its rightful owner. After the thing was made to run, I discovered a massive transmission leak that I was not ready to deal with. So I was reimbursed for my parts, and I'm looking for something with a box that is newer, simpler and preferably with four cylinders.

The 1982 GS1100E is parked, in pieces again, in a garage in Camarillo. It and I are awaiting the delivery of a revised head gasket from Cometic, a revision that I feel personally responsible for putting into action. Cometic's Multi-Layer-Steel head gaskets were designed to be used in racing motors with high-strength studs and therefore designed for torque values in excess of 40 ft-lb.

The problem I had with leakage did not crop up until recently, since who puts an MLS gasket on a stock motor??? The stock studs can only handle 30-35 ft lb at MOST before they break, and that torque is insufficient to mash the little metal ridges around the oilways flat enough for good sealing.

The solutions to this problem are legion: use black silicone around the oilway holes; get high-strength studs ($$$) and torque it to 40 or 50 ft lb; or (free) get Cometic to redesign their gasket, restamp it, and send me one. This latter has been the most time consuming but the most morally satisfying.

I'm supposed to get the revised gasket next week. We'll see. I'll probably use black silicone with the new gasket too, because if I have to tear that motor down one more time I will be seriously tempted to push the whole assembly off a cliff into the Pacific.