When we last left = our hero, Mike had decided to do the job he had procrastinated for some time: the = dreaded leaking head syndrome!

Began the job = of resealing the head gaskets in my 87 Westy yesterday. 6 hours logged into the job = so far and I am now ready to take apart the exhaust @ the cat-conveter in order = to lower it away from the engine. Looks as though I'll either have to grind = or use a hacksaw here. Everything else is off except the water pump and heads; = all fluids are drained.

So far so good- no = broken bolts/studs as there is not much salt on the roads here in sunny so-cal = to ruin things. Although, the oil drain felt like it was cross-threaded when I = removed it- way too much resistance. There is evidence of an oil leak there too, = hmmm. I'll have to take a closer look when I start again this morning.

Took me a = little longer than normal to figure out how the electrical connectors disconnnected. = Duooh! Probably a chapter on that in the Bentley somewhere. Labeled everything = and took some pics for reference.

Not sure if 6 hours = to get to this point is a decent time or not. I'm only a shade tree wrench, but I = try to be a very meticulous one at that.

Question = for fellow gearheads: Why is a 'bar type' or 'dial indicator' torque wrench = specified vs. the 'clik type' that I have for torquing the heads? Acurracy? If so, = then is it not hard to see the indicator?

Need to get the = MTBHAUS (mountain bike house) on the road so = that I can head up to Joshua Tree National Park for the annual Sunrise Century (um, = that's like a'hunderd miles, dude) this Sunday. Basically 'Dawn Patrol' on = a bike with friends, epic scenery, followed by serious food & = grog.