Well, it finally happend (trans. stud)

[mr. z]

After owning this 1950 transmission of mine for nearly two decades, I had a situation yesterday, for the first time ever.

I was going over my routine maintenence and found one of my trans mounting stud nuts was loose. I have never had these tighter then 30-35 lbs. This one nut seemed to spin freely on the stud, but when I began to loosen it, the stud and all fell into my hand, it had apparently taken out what was left of the case threads with it.

I'm looking at either time serting the case,(with the trans out) and re-using the original stud, or considering doing an operation with the trans still installed in the bike, and using an oversize stud from Colony, after retapping, and then using retaining compound.

I read in the knowlege base where VT had this situation with all four studs loose and leaky in a brand new trans from V-twin, but he didn't follow up on how it came out eventually. Would have liked to have known if using time-serts in this area is a good idea, or could they cause that area to leak?

I had just pulled this trans over the winter to fix leaks and alighn the shift forks, would really hope my trans-in oper. is possilble, as pulling mine is a time-comsuming hassle(oil tank, pipes etc). This is my first crack at one of these, any thoughts would be appreciated, and thanx in advance

[Hog54]

I cant see how the timesert would leak and you wont have anything stronger.

[mr. z]

I cant see how the timesert would leak and you wont have anything stronger.

I'm kinda thinking that is the best way too, not lookin' forward to pullin' everything again,after such a short time, but it is what it is. The stud hole in question is the left front, behind the primary cover not too hard to reach with the bike on my lift, but we'll see.

[RUBONE]

The factory repair was an oversize stud. Quick and dirty. The timesert will serve you well. Like the saying goes, "do it right, do it once".
Robbie

[RCamp]

Timesert or oversize stud, check to see if your tap will fit through the slot in the mounting plate, not a lot of play there. Also, I would put some heavy grease up in the hole to trap the metal from the drilling and tapping, then swap it out afterward.

Ralph

[FlatHeadSix]

z
Like Robbie said, "do it right, do it once". There are no shortcuts, the oversize stud is not a repair, it is just a bandaid. Here's a link to a discussion we had here a couple years ago about the same thing. I had an oversize stud in my '31 VL tranny and it came loose.
mike
https://www.hydra-glide.net/phpBB3/view ... rsize+stud

[1951 adam]

Heli coil is a much cleaner repair then time sert...I like things that dont look repaired, and heli coil works well.

[mr. z]

Thanx everyone, I knew y'all would come thru. Just one of those nasty little things that can't be done half-assed. My bike is a bit of a mutt, but I pride myself on everything on it being done right, I like to reverse the previous abuse inflicted on these old parts, and make 'em right again.

[1951 adam]

WELL SAID!! Good luck, doing it the right way is the only way..

[51Hog]

I have been trying to decide why a heli coil is more correct , or better than the over sized stud.
The hole that you drill and tap for the coil is about the same size of the hole that you drill and tap for the stud. The strength is the same.
The only benefit that I see to using a coil is if you were to run the stud in and out many times, you would not damage the aluminum threads.
That is if the coil did not back out with the stud...... But , how many times do you remove the stud....
Dale

[1962FLH]

Weld it up, drill and tap to correct size.

[1951 adam]

For me a heli coil looks no different then or not much different then the original tapped aluminum, thats the advantage to me, as well as strength...time serts look like they have been installed, thats all.... welding? is that really needed for this repair? probably not.

[FlatHeadSix]

I have been trying to decide why a heli coil is more correct , or better than the over sized stud.
....Dale

Dale,
There is actually nothing wrong with an oversize stud if it is installed correctly to begin with. If you read the original thread that my picture came from I think I explained why I installed the Heli-Coil. The oversize stud that was in my tranny case had worked loose, it was cocked over to one side, and it leaked. I don't know why it did that, I'm sure it had been in that case a long time, and it was probably installed with the transmission still in the bike. Probably a bad installation when it was done.
Anyway, either a Heli-Coil or an oversize will work just fine if they are put in correctly, and the transmission should be out of the frame and upside down to do it, in my opinion.
mike

[51Hog]

Thanks for the reply Mike.
I Like the idea of the 1 mechanical joint vs. the two created with the coil.
I believe that they would be equal in strength tho.
Dale