Oil leak questions

[63panhead]

Hello. I've been following this forum for a while and just joined. Drinks on me!!! I recently bought a '63 panhead chopper/bobber. Its basically one of the pimp daddy kits but has a '63 motor and trans. Its titled '63 HD and I was able to pick it up finished for much less than the cost of the kit. I have another bike that I wrench on a little but I'm new to panheads. I am going to buy a service manual (best one?) but still have a lot of questions.

I understand that the oil leaks are common. Mine pukes a lot of oil out around the front sprocket when cold. I have the primary outer cover off and plan to remove the inner (new clutch/belt installed). I would like to decrease the puking as much as possible. I checked that the vent tube was clear. Is there anything else I can do to cut down on the amount of oil leaking out?

Thanks for any answers.

[57pan]

Service manual: definitely get the H-D manual, but I would recommend the Clymer manual too. I know a lot of guys really look down on Clymer but I have found that sometimes the H-D manual explains things better and sometimes the Clymer does a better job - then again sometimes you need both of them in combination in order to figure out what's going on. Also, the Clymer manual is directed a little more to the do-it-yourself guy who doesn't have a shop full of special H-D tools.

Also, get the Service Parts manual.

That should do for starters.

On the oil leaks - there are just so many places where they can leak. Sounds like you have identified a couple of them already: the engine sprocket shaft "seal" and the primary chain oiler. If you install a belt drive primary you definitely want to shut off the chain oiler at the oil pump and then reroute the engine breather outside the primary housing. Other than that you just have to try to keep it clean so you can see where the source of the leak is and then tackle them one by one.

[63panhead]

Thanks for the response. I appreciate the advice. I need to get more familiar with the oiling system. The bike was built by a shop that knows pans. I think the chain oiler is plugged off (not positive). The vent tube is open on one end. Does replacing the shaft seal seem to work? Seems like a big job.

[57pan]

''63panhead wrote: Does replacing the shaft seal seem to work? Seems like a big job.''

On the pre-55 engines it is a lot of work. It almost requires that the cases be split although there are some real gurus here that have done it without taking the motor apart. On the 55 and newer motor the seal simply screws into the case. Pretty easy once you have the primary drive off.

There are a couple of different manufacturers of the screw-in type. Colony makes one but I have heard some reports that the OD of the seal is slightly oversize and very difficult to screw into the case. The other mfg. is either Tedd's or Custom Chrome (can't remember which) but this is the one that you want - it fits better. At least it fit well on mine.

[63panhead]

Great info. I'll look into that. Thank you.