Honda-SOHC

I think I read on here, for older riders it's not just the Honda of our youth that drives us to ride into old age, its also the knowledge that we are stradling a mobile branch of the Digitas Clinic, that thought keeps us focused and risk averse.

Your post has reminded me of when I used to collect used Vauxhall's from Luton employers (Circa 1965)  who were allowed to buy two cars a year at a big  discount. The Vauxhall dealers would buy these low mileage cars from the employers when they were 6-12 months old, everyone in the chain made  a tidy profit.

Frequently on the Luton run we would see new Bedfords Bus Chassis on the M1 presumably on their way to coachbuilders. They had a makeshift drivers seat with a plywood board in front & behind. The drivers wore goggles to keep the insects out of their eyes. No windscreens so not a nice job when it was cold or raining.

The bit we don't mention is how many hours it takes to get a really good finish.

I did a great polishing job on a side casing a while back, it just had one small bit I wasn't happy with.
I should have left it as it was, instead I buffed it for a final finish only to make it worse.

It took me several hours to get near where it was, now I'm happy with less than perfection, that will do.
Ken is on another level, respect.👍

I can't see your listing for the 550F2 in the link you posted, either way it looks as if they have possibly  sent the wrong ones as F2 & K3 are not the same.

If you fit the inner pair only for cylinders 2 & 3 how does it look, are the 4 carb bodies the same part number?

You can buy car carpet cleaner in an aerosol.
You spray it on, let it soak in, then wipe with a clean dry mutton cloth.
It will not remove all the yellowing but it will remove grease, dirt etc.

They moved to bigger premises on Bold Lane, Derby in the early  1960's.
Thats my father Reg on the left in the Motor Trders Jacket.

PXL_20231204_214043501 by Macabe Thiele, on Flickr

I grew up in a motor trade environment, my late father did his apprenticeship at RR Crewe working mainly on Bentleys. After completing his apprenticeship he teamed up with a fellow RR employee to service and repair cars in the evenings and weekends when they both were based at RR Derby in the mid 1950s.
I'm talking here about post WW2 and the rapid growth in private car ownership that took off in the 1955-65 period.

I'm not certain about the year, sometimes around 1954/5 my dad Reg and his mate Eric opened up a garage locally in Mickleover to sell used Vauxhall's with a workshop and body shop facilities. The man with the money was Eric who inherited substantial weather on the death of his father. The business expanded to bigger premises in Derby, they eventually became Vauxhall, Opel & Mercedes main dealers. Eric sold the dealership retiring to Spain in his mid forties.

I had access to factory dealership  workshop manuals via my father, older manuals ended up in our garage when newer issues were released. This access to decent printed manuals led me to seek out manufacturers manuals when I bought my first Japanese car a MK1 MR2. The manuals were expensive at about £60 each, even worse there was a manual for the engine, bodywork & electrical section so a set was well over £120 with VAT.
Haynes manuals appeared to be only available on older models, don't know if that was copyright issues or what
My Haynes Manual for a Vauxhall Cavalier MK2 was brilliant, it was a thorough and detailed manual with great photos and text links to each photo. A local self employed Technical Photographer (ex RR) John Colley did a lot of work for the Haynes family as the Haynes Manuals became quite successful.

I was told by John Colley that he parted ways with Haynes work when they were cost cutting, probably after the company changed ownership. What I have noticed is the Haynes Manuals seem to have lost a lot of detail especially when they combine models in one manual. That said they are a great starting point.