ES2: the journey begins, extra 500T parts

Hi all,I attended the Barber Motorsports Vintage bike event recently in the USA. It was my first time there & had a ball. What an awesome event.I decided to fly down from Cleveland Ohio, rent a car, and not take too much money (to prevent me from bringing home a project). Well, there I was minding my own business & up pops a very sad & derelict, incomplete plunger ES2 mis-marked as a 1953. As we all now, the swing arm frame came out in '53, so something was amiss! No petrol tank, no mudguards, no toolbox, wrong forks (BSA items) with extended slugs for that Captain America look, and a frame bent (and broken) on the top & front tubes in order to get some rake for the ever popular '70's era chopper. Asking price: $1700 USD. HMMMMMMMMMMMMMM, I said to my self, if I had the cash, I might entertain making an offer, I see those lay-down gearboxes going for over $1,000, & a fairly complete ES2 engine with the magneto (less carb) is surely worth the asking price of the whole bike, right? A good friend of mine does these types of frame repairs routinely for many of the AMCA members bikes (mostly HD & Indians), My pal Ed Vanaman has a Powde rcoating company, and my magneto/dynamo repair sideline is very very busy HMMMMMM. So, I call a friend who is also at barber (who I know just sold a couple of bikes at the swap meet) and said, hey- can I borrow about $1500? He foolishly said "sure". Now, how to get this basket case on the plane home, no, that wont work at all ............. I got it! I know a guy who is racing, he has a van & a trailer at the meet! So I call him & say "hey man, can you cart a few bike parts back to Ohio for me", without asking how many, or how heavy, he says sure, cover 1/2 the fuel bill for the trip & were all good ($50). NICE!!!!, so I go back to the swap meet vendor & say, the best I can do for your $1700 pile-o-parts is $1500. We shake hands, a deal is done, a bill of sale is drawn up (no title), now to borrow a 2 wheel dolly to cart this hulk to the van. I find a very nice lady who offers me her dolly for free & off I go, 4 trips back & forth & viola!So, my '57 model 77 has been my daily rider & now needs a speedometer drive (after the guts flew out the back one day), my '50 model 7 sits on the bench, 90% complete (for the last 2 years) as customers magneto repairs have taken all of my time. The '60 Norton Nomad project has been moving slow as I gather uber rare parts before attempting assembly, now I bought a "nowhere near complete" ES2 (probably from 1952).I have always wanted a Norton single, in fact, about a year ago I did a trade for a newly rebuilt Lucas Magdyno for a friends ES2, for his 500T trials front forks, complete with the early scalloped brake drum and the special rare upper fork tube covers sans headlight ears, with the competition number plate brackets, and reduced rake triple trees (very rare) for trials use. So here I am with an ES2 that needs a pair of Long roadholders (different from the short roadholders), and I have a set of 500t roadholders sitting in the corner, lonely, neglected. The problem is, with the reduced rake of the 500T front end, it would not be a good idea to use that front end on a street bike. I would however be willing to either sell the triple trees & competition upper fork covers to someone with a 500T. I would also consider a trade & cash if someone had the alloy upper covers with the headlamp ears as well as a period set of triple clamps, or other ES2 parts that I may be able to use.What is wrong with us anyway, buying this old crusty metal with dreams of grandeur of it someday being restored ? I guess it keeps us off the streets, and it keeps our tools from getting too rusty Any words of advice, encouragement, or scorn welcomedSkip BrolundP.S. the Barber Motorsports park has the worlds largest motorcycle museum on site, as well as an Indy quality racetrack on 800 acres of wooded park like land.