I was thinking the same thing when I saw the washers.

You need to clean things up before you tear an Engine apart. Get your self set up so you can lay the parts out when you disassemble.

Go over the manual and inspect every part.

Take your time and enjoy the journey of the rebuild, and the hunt for parts. You do it right and you will get a lot of use out of that Engine.

Bringing a 30 year old machine back to life.

Tons of video on boop tub on how to split and pull crank
Another reason to pull studs is, there no good and need to be replaced with new ones as well as the nuts. With the head studs removed it is easier to rebuild. If the head as been milled down you must use washers under the head stud nuts to keep them from bottoming out and hold head to torque. look at tab on head the thickness will tell you if and how much of a washer you need. The head surface must be flat as well as the top of the cylinder in order to seal.
If you decide to take short cuts you will learn a lot real quick.

No matter your choice we all can help as you go. Post pics and info. I now my self I had to learn the hard way a few times.

We have all heard the famous " It has new top end on it".
Since its for your wife and you to enjoys I would recommend you take it a part and rebuild and have a good Engine to enjoy for years. At this point parts are cheap.

Look forward to your rebuild.

Pics

That's what I was thinking when asking for the picture, should be able to tell from the tab

New studs and nuts are cheaper than I remember.
Would be helpful to know if it any markings on it like atvr on head and jug.

Maybe he will get lucky and no damage other than piston.
Hone and go.

Everyone is so helpful! I appreciate it. I'm going to get an area setup for it this week and start getting things going. We're going to clean it up real nice and just do it the right way. We just got back from the dunes with our first trip on the first pilot we got and it was a blast with it. It was a fight over who got to take it out each ride. We have a bunch of extra parts as it is right now so it should be a fun one for us. She's very interested, so that makes it even more exciting.

I don't want to be the fun wrecker here but caution is in order because I can feel your excitement through the internet.
In 2015 I was involved in a oddy crash that broke my back and completely destroyed my machine. I crushed my L1 vertebra. I'm lucky I'm not paralyzed.
These machines have a deadly flaw. We sit low and can't see long distance, therefore you have NO warning if there is a dip in the road (or a steep drop off). Also we are strapped in which means we can't use our legs for suspension like the bike guys can. Our back IS the shock absorber.
Here is the thread (read it all): viewtopic.php?f=2&t=15887&hilit=crsah
CO

Does anyone know if cw still does the 500 kit? How do I go about that? Just something I was curious about. I'll try searching for it more in the threads.

PM (private message) Rppjr.
He would probably have the info you need on that.
CO

Give him a call, he does a big bore kit but I’m not sure if it’s a 500. I sent him my Engine from atv motorsports to go through. They at one time modified the cases to accept the larger diameter cylinder stud pattern of the cr500. Lower end will get checked over and new bearings, seals and gaskets installed. I’m using a cr500 cylinder, piston, rings I bought from him he had set up for the pilot. Will use a cr500 cool Head on it with his porting and I picked up an aftermarket exhaust manifold that used o rings to seal the pipe. He is a great guy and will take the time to talk to you. He is busy right now so it may take some time to get the Engine back depending on what you have done. With any luck I can sell the atv motorsports cylinder, piston, rings, exhaust manifold to recoup some of the build cost.
Bob