While body pieces are out for refinishing, I wanted to get started on the carburetor rebuild. I bought a second complete use one online in case I need any parts, which I certainly will. Unfortunately, both have similar problems. I disassembled the original carb and found exactly what I expected: a lot of gummy gunk in the float bowl. The good news is that the floats are intact and fill valve appear to work. The bad news is that the throttle insert is stuck tight -and I mean TIGHT- in both units.
 
I had hoped for this to be a one-day project, but it'll take several at my pace. First I've got to strip all of the gunk out of the float bowl and jet insert. I've got some great chemicals that are helping with that. In fact they're soaking over night. Once I get them stripped and can see what I'm dealing with, I'll attach the problem of the stuck jets. None of the industrial lubricants have worked thus far, so the next step is some brute force. I have to be careful not to break the housing, but then again I've got a spare if I need it!
 
In the photos, the top one is the one I bought online, the bottom is from the bike itself. The purchased one has a rusted source value so I will wind up rebuilding the original rather than the new one. Though the original is dirtier, it's actually in better mechanical shape.

The modern marvels of Ebay and FedEx brought a new set of used wheels to the garage today. While they have light surface rust, they are in significantly better shape than the original wheels. The front wheel in the lower right of the first picture is in extremely good condition.

 A complete carburetor was also part of the same purchase. It appears mostly functional, with the notable exception of a rusted-open primary fuel flow valve which can be replaced with the working one from the old carb. I'll order a new float and jet kit in a couple of weeks, which can be found as NOS, or "New Old Stock," which are vintage parts that have been manufactured new by aftermarket companies) online.

 Tonight I pulled a few external pieces off of the motor, including the kickstarter. Yes, this bike has no electric starter; you have to jump on a pedal to start it up. It was broken off at the top of the shaft anyway and has to be replaced.

 Next week, the painted body pieces, these wheels, and the motor will get sandblasted to strip the surface coatings (paint or rust!) away before they are recoated. I'm hoping to visit the shop and get some footage of that process. A good family friend is helping identify shops and get the work done on the cheap... thanks, Leon!

As you read this post, you can play a fun game of "count the number of insect carcasses and nests."
 
I pulled the headlight, speedometer, and front-end wiring. That's basically everything that was inside the plastic housing that bolts to the front forks. The plastic is chipped but likely salvageable. I plan to replace all of the wiring anyway. The speedometer is a closed unit and is in remarkably good shape. Provided it stull functions, it'll be saved for the rebuilt bike. In fact, I cleaned it up a bit and it looks great!
 
Individual parts that can be made to shine again provide motivation for the overall project:
 

 
Here are the documentation shots. It's kind of neat to see the front forks completely bare:

The taillight and license plate assembly came off tonight after a few days away. The amount of biomass on and in this motorcycle is pretty incredible. I'm displacing a lot of spiders.

 All of the back-end lighting comes into one bracket which holds the brake light and license plate. I took it apart piece by piece and then removed the underlying bracket. I reassembled everything for safe-keeping, and will replace components as needed.

 This also marked the first solder that I had to break, which I was futilely hoping to avoid. So a soldering gun will be a birthday or Christmas present this year, hopefully. Tomorrow I hope to get to the exhaust removal for some really visible disassembly progress. Slow going (mostly after the kids are asleep), but fun.

I pulled the decrepit old Honda 90 out of my folks' shed today and with the help of my brother, Scott, we loaded it into the back of the Escalade and drove it back to my house. While it's still in pretty horrible shape, it looked good out in the daylight (which is probably hasn't seen in 10+ years). Walking it to the truck generated a couple of positive signs: the wheels still turn, the cylinder compression is good, and the piston isn't seized. Any one of those would have been a good sign, and all three working is just great luck.

 My brother was nice enough to follow me home to ensure the old Honda rode okay in the truck, and it was fun to have a 2007 Cadillac hauling a bike followed by a classic 1961 Cadillac. You can see all 3 in the last photo of the set.

 Now it's time to get to work.