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First sunny day in two weeks!
Lots of pieces going on at the same time. I used flower shop foam to shape the lenses for the front signals (seen in green). I need the "brows" to be in place to shape them in place. My hands are so rough from sanding... that's all I used to shape the foam... my hands acting as sandpaper. I then plaster cast the shape and cast a male mold of the finished shape (white cigar shape). This will (eventually) be the final mold which I will use when vacuum molding the lenses. I plan on molding in two pieces. Front being the lens and the rear being an opaque material which I can mount the bulb through. (I have taken pictures of the rear lens mounts to give a better idea - will upload those over the next couple of days.) It was also necessary to create a shelf for the lens to slide into and eventually will be where the lens is bolted onto the cowl ( you can see the lip in 8413. in 8414 you can see where I've just loosely attached the brow to show how the pieces go together.
I've got the other brow ready to be sanded and will have the other lens completed by the weekend. I hope to give them to my brother for the first test vacuum mold next week and once we've got the right shape, then I will have him cast three of each lens (extras!!!) and tuck the mold away for safe keeping.
I've had progress with the tailpiece as well, the custom piece where the rear signal lenses will mount fits pretty good at this stage (will fit better when i get to round two of sanding). I've wired up the tail light and have loose mounted the engine to give me an idea of fit and what else has to be done.
I'd forgotten to allow for the electronic fuel pump in the new wiring harness, so I've got that to do. I've also got to enlarge the battery box to accommodate the larger size battery (was originally sized for a 150 battery). I will have to re-route the the heater hoses now that the motor is mounted. I'm also having to reconsider using the elite 250 airbox or the helix airbox as they collide with the shocks and new tailpiece.
I"ve got a couple questions regarding airbox configuration as well as the shock position which I will post to the proper forums.
A little bit each day and now I'm starting to think about placement of gauges / dash along with design of handlebars / headlight and windscreen.
I thought I'd throw along a photo of my workshop as well... rescued the stylist chair from a local salon, have two of them in the garage... getting too old to be standing up all the time. Plus the kids foam squares were the best shop decision I've ever made. Cheap, easy to clean and very knee friendly

Have gone with the oversized CN250 head / new piston and oversized rings. I will have to check but I believe they were .005 but don't quote me. New valves and springs (am thinking about a loftier cam as well - but that's still just outside the radar for the time being
Engine is back together and lookin' purdy

Boy, I'd sure like to get my hands on one of those...

Having the plasticine around is sure handy for backspacing voids. You can see where I have blocked out the mounting plates for the front cowl to kick plate. I plan to glass over the plasticine (including the tab - seen on top piece). I had the brilliant idea to glass in a pop rivet mounting nut (used previously on the cowl - awesome invention) which I can then bolt right to the floorpan. Pics of the completed assembly will tell the story better than my description.
Going to be a busy weekend inside, now that the rain and fall have finally arrived to the west coast.
Decided not to paint the engine block, instead I'm just going to buff it with aluminum polish and a buffing attachment on a dremmel, can't redesign everything...

Getting the motor back on friday, so I guess it's time to get back in the garage.
Sorry not much work done over the summer, busy gardening and building a greenhouse. But now that the engine is back in the mix... it's time to get busy with the bodywork. Pics of progress will be posted in a couple of weeks.
Working on how the panels attach to the frame and making sure that everything lines up correctly.
Cheersh!

Great suggestion justbuggin2... I had to google the term and I agree. It will look pretty killer done to the dash.
I've poured the plaster cast for the tail lights and plan to pull it tomorrow, then the whole make a positive - finish it - and take that to the friends at the foundry for casting.
Just got a call from the local honda centre and the cylinder has been bored (1 over) and new pistons/rings and all the other goodies will be back to me early next week. I am so looking forward to getting the engine bolted back together.
More pics next week.

July update: Finished up with the mounting system. I stumbled across these threaded pop rivets that work brilliantly.
Have reinforced the fiberglass patches that were weak and have really started focussing on finishing off the bodywork to priming stage. The weather has been so great, that I moved the sanding to the backyard while I work on the broad strokes. The earlier work with the templates has paid off and with a lot of elbow grease and sandpaper, the panels are starting to come together nicely. All panel mounting positions have been identified and have been test mounted a couple of times. I should get to the primer stage by this weekend, but I don't plan on painting until I've go the engine ready to rumble.
The big chunks are getting done, but there are plenty of little details to work out yet. The biggest being the extended rear brake cable. I thought the cable from the helix would be perfect, but it's almost a foot longer than I need. Will have the motor back from the shop by the weekend. Really looking forward to buttoning that bad girl back together.
Enjoy the pics - If you've got a question, please ask. If you have advice that will save knuckles or money, I'd love to hear it.