PROBLEM. TRANS KICKER COVER

[BCOWANWHEELS]

I was cleanning my old trans up today and I unhooked the kicker spring to clean behind it and I noticed the kicker lever has a lot of side play, you can wiggle it..... so it needs at the least a kicker shaft bushing and knowing my luck the kicker shaft its self is probably worn alot also plus the chrome on the cover is all but ugly now. so my thoughts are just to completely replace the entire assembly. you fellas know who sells the best assembly preferably polished or chromed ?
my trans is the early style 4 speed.. i had lake shore h/d in the chicago area install a new set of andrews close ratio gears and o/h this back before I put it all in storage, this makes me wonder about the quality of there work...!
thanks
bob

[jdpan]

Those bushings are designed to wear out, I doubt the shaft is worn... If the cover is an OEM part, I'd do all I could to salvage it, replacing the bushings is a fairly simple job and the part price is minimum.

[RUBONE]

I doubt the shaft is worn...

I beg to differ! Kicker shafts are often quite worn. One of the reasons good ones are hard to find. New bushings MADE to the correct running fit are easily made. The shaft should be checked for roundness and were. They wear on one side (the thrust surface) and are often out of round with a step in them. Turn it to round, fit OS bushings, all is well!
Robbie

[Bigincher]

Also, be prepared to have repairs made to the bushing boss inside the cover--- they are very commonly cracked. However, they are also easily welded, and the weld repair and fitting of new bushings is a good solid refurbishment..!

[jdpan]

Never had a problem with a worn shaft, always replace the bushings before. Still running the same one since '80..

[Cotten]

My experience has been that the majority of shafts are worn badly (especially '54 and earlier, since aftermarket replacements are uh,.... nevermind.)

Also, I would consider any chromed cover to be... uh,,.... marginal if not pure junk anyway.

Try grinding the gasket surface back to flat, and you will soon be trying to figure out a way to get the rest of the chrome off.

Chrome plating has ruined more covers than miles on the highway.

....Cotten

[BCOWANWHEELS]

I,D like to have a cover on hand when i dissasemble mine. a polished cover would be fine although I,ve never had problems with my stock chromed cover until I noticed its badly worn inside. also upon further inspection sometime in its life a exhause pipe has rubbed the bottom of the kicker cover and worn slightly into it so I,d rather just replace it. where can I get a quality cover fellas. my kicker arm is the old style and not the newer bolt on type andI think its a better looking design that these bolt on arms but I will do whatever it takes to bring this area into specs. it bugs me to death just looking at it...... I cant believe lake shore h/d didnt catch this as in 1975 when they went through it I could have bought a new genuine h/d cover. I,ve been searching on-line for a cover and found a few but nothing like somebodys experience whose actually got one and knows the quality.
thanks again
bob

[panhead_kicker]

Bob,
I was just checking out the S&S web site, and they have a re-pop old style cover ('40-'50). To me it looks authentic from the pic.. they even cast a date tag into the cover. I have no experience with the quality of S&S stuff, except for a carb.
Take a look http://www.sscycle.com/feature/featureview.php?s_id=26" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[Hawg]

I Got a Set Of Bushings and The Oil Seal From Bill's Custom Cycle http://www.billscustomcycles.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

He Is Reasonable

Old Covers In Good Shape Are Hard To Find . Best To Repair Your Old One and Save Those Old Bushings As They Can Be Used Inside The Starter Mainshaft Gear O.D. Fits Turn The I.D. To Fit Your Shaft and Cut The Oil Grooves In. Cut This Old Bushing To Lenght I Found The Old O.E.M. Gear To Be Better Than The Repop Ones

2 Good Chrome Shops In Nashville Advance Plating 1 800 588 6686 and Chrome Masters 1 615 256 9828 They Will Strip The Old Chrome Then You Can Weld Any Web Cracks On The Inside and Repair The Wear Spot On The Outside . Rechrome or Polish It

[BCOWANWHEELS]

S&S STUFF IS TOP NOTCH.. thats the one i,ll get also the full length bushing and modern outer seal is a big plus. advance plating in nashville ddoes sorry work. you should see how bad they did my springer....... i,ll probably just polish thi cover myself. got my h/d manuels out last night so guess this comming week I,am going to dissmantle it and see what all parts i need. thanks again fellas

[jdpan]

What are ya gonna do with the old cover?

[BCOWANWHEELS]

I,D TRADE YOU FOR A S&S COVER ...

[jdpan]

I'm sure you would..

[Mark]

Baker makes a cover and American made gears.

[BCOWANWHEELS]

mark,
I noticed the baker products and i feel sure there the absolute best as there billet not cast but there over 600.00 and way out of my budjet i "think " S&S is top on my list so far but I havent dissmantled the kicker cover yet to see what all is out of spec. i,ll post up with what I find and the for sure route I,am going soon. alot will depend on if my kicker arm is worn.
thanks
bob