As suspected the nose cone needs some slicing and dicing to fit - it was slightly
backward way of doing it but its close enough to work from.
I finished up the front shock / lever assemblies, put some wooden blocks to limit movement and lowered the front down onto axle stands. One side didn't drop to the wooden block, hung up, oh dear, somethings binding. Much poking and prodding only to discover one side has a coil spring on the shock and gosh darn it was doing its job. Amateur hour at the zoo in my garage today.
I will post some pickup progress as the Lakester is sulking after I swore at it.