NOT !
..but LOT'a head-scratching / pulling apart / re-re-assembling, till I found out what was wrong.
I'm too embarrassed to tell.
No use dwelling on the past.
.-)
SO; moving on (fastlike);
There's nothing quite like a table laid with fresh new
and reconditioned parts !
Yummy!Tonight I'll install the valves.
It may sound silly; but I'm quite exited
as it's the first time I do a side-valve.
Also be checking the piston-ring end-gap on the new pistons.
Here's another small improvement on this almost-seventy-year old engine.
Originally the notorious 'sealing'-rings between the cylinders and the in-take
is made of brass, which inevitably will turn brittle and leak.
Don't really want that,
particularly on a blown engine.
Indian Parts Europe has managed to have these
space-age-unobtainium thingies made:
..from some sort of nylon-like material that will not change properties
subjected to intense heat (and cooling and etc.).
You get them
oversized and they are then machined down
to your specific (in this case ; home-made) intake,
for perfect fit.