Tranny sprocket nut torque value

[kell]

Tore down my transmission. Noticed that the ends of the rollers had worn a groove in the spacer. Maybe I had the sprocket nut cranked down too tight. I'd appreciate hearing the correct torque value or a description of how tight you should go.

[Jack_Hester]

Kell -

You didn't have it too tight. Spacer butts against a shoulder on the clutch gear. Rollers float in between.

Jack

[57pan]

I don't mean to cause this thread to drift off-topic but, seems to me that good torque specs are kind of rare for these old bikes. I have the reprint of the H-D Service Manual and there are _VERY_ few torque specs in it.

I found the same thing that Kell did when I replaced the mainshaft seal on my tranny. A new spacer is only about $10 bucks. Cheap enough - might as well replace it as long as you have it apart that far.

I think I torqued the nut to about 50 ft/lb when I put it back together.

[sleeper]

I have several original manuals & it was common, in the older manuals to say: Tighten it good & give it a couple smacks with a mallet. That's fine... Different era.
Simpler times..

[kell]

Unless the sprocket butts against a stop, something gets squeezed. There has to be a stop for the sprocket on the mainshaft because the roller bearings will get squeezed between it and the shoulder of the main gear (either the rollers or the race has to get squeezed but the spacer isn't touching the race). I don't see anything on the shaft to stop the sprocket. I do see a groove in the spacer and free-floating rollers didn't grind away that much material. So what gives?

[Jack_Hester]

Kell -

Your spacer can go no further than the shoulder on the clutch gear. This shoulder is right at the smooth bearing surface of the gear. And, your sprocket butts against the spacer. You install the clip into the slot on the spacer, and side your sprocket against the clip and the spacer. Next the lockwasher, and nut. When all is tight, all components are locked together on the clutch gear, with very little thrust present on the clutch gear. Needle rollers will free float between the clutch gear wall, and the lip on the spacer, which also serves as an oil seal surface.

Jack

[kell]

Jack, my transmission is different.
I'm looking at a diagram that shows a race inboard of the main gear, where I don't have one. It says years 1937-E77. There's a needle bearing on the diagram that says L1977-81 (OEM 8905) or 1982-86 (OEM 8906) and corresponds to the location of my needle bearing.
Now, this was a 1952 FL that the previous owner had rebuilt. I imagine the transmission case is the original, or from that era. They put gears from the 1980's in it. Is that necessarily a problem? Well, the gear spacing was all wrong; the mainshaft and countershaft gears did not line up, and there was way too much space between third and main. As evidence of the rebuilder's attitude, he didn't do any work at all on the forks to adjust them to shift the new gears; literally every locktab on every washer on the forks was broken off, and they looked like something out of an archaelological dig. This on a tranny with gleaming new gears. Duh?
Well I got all that fixed but now I'm paranoid, I don't trust anything about this transmission. Unfortunately, I already got the mainshaft and oil seal in and can't check out the bearings that I keep bitching to you guys about.

P.S. Thanks for the valve guide.

[Jack_Hester]

Kell -

I am totally ignorant, when it comes to putting later components in early cases, such as your tranny. Even though it seems to be from the Shovelhead era, they were going through a transition period in design of engine and transmission. I'm getting ready to put a Shovelhead transmission together. But, it's basically like your Pan transmission would have been, except for the longer mainshaft for the elec. start primary. I just thumbed through a parts manual and looked at the two setups. The later ones look like caged needles. If this is true, and they are used with the earlier clutchgear and spacer, it may very well pinch the rollers and cage. This is going to be a tough call, not being able to see the components that went in. I can visualize a stock 52 and all the internals of the tranny. I cannot tell you how the late stuff will fit. Or, the later needles in what may be an earlier clutchgear and spacer. Did you take it to a shop for the fix of the gears? Or, do it yourself? If it were mine, I'd gut it and make it a true 52. I know you're bound to have some bucks tied up in it, at this point. And, a gut job would be pricey to pay someone to do. And, a royal pain, if you were having to do it over, yourself.

Jack