Clutch pin replacement.

[Damon]

Hi guys,
I recently replaced the fibre plates on my clutch on my 49 Panhead, it has a belt drive, possibly primo, wide...
The three lunch guide pins had threads in poor shape so I've bought replacement pins and nuts, just wondering how they fit the basket and how I might replace them? I'm yet to take it all apart again, I notice the inside of the pin isn't threaded, but does have what looks like a circlip slot machined in. Any tips?
Thanks,
Damon.

[1950Panhead]

Originals are peened on the back side, peening is hard to do so I weld them.
The circlip type ring is for the spring that holds the bearing retainer plate.

Jerry

[Bigincher]

I recall replacing the pins years ago on my '41 panhead.
It was straightforward. Knocked the old pins out, put in the new pins, peened the ends. It's the peening part that requires a little thought, a little patience, and a lot of careful... well, 'peening'.

[jdpan]

I recall replacing the pins years ago on my '41 panhead.
It was straightforward. Knocked the old pins out, put in the new pins, peened the ends. It's the peening part that requires a little thought, a little patience, and a lot of careful... well, 'peening'.

I'll assume "41 panhead" was a typo?

[Bigincher]

I recall replacing the pins years ago on my '41 panhead.
It was straightforward. Knocked the old pins out, put in the new pins, peened the ends. It's the peening part that requires a little thought, a little patience, and a lot of careful... well, 'peening'.

I'll assume "41 panhead" was a typo?

No, not a typo. A lot of people don't catch it, or don't notice. The motor in my old chopper is a set of '41 knuck cases with '59 panhead barrels and heads 'grafted' onto it. I bought it in the early '70s, and have changed it very little over the years. Back then, guys did whatever they could to keep their bikes on the road-- and perhaps slapping a panhead top end on a knuck motor was a 'performance upgrade'.

I love that old chopper, it was my first Harley, and still my most favorite to ride of the three I have that are running. It's truly a wonderful morphadite--- that motor sits in a wishbone Harley frame, properly cut, raked, stripped of all tabs and brackets, and beautifully Bondoed. I guess you could call it a "survivor". I've thought about trying to tame it down a little and make it more original, but it would be an uphill battle all the way, and still wrong. Besides, it's my first Harley, and like I said, still the most fun...!

Maybe I just should've called it a '59 knuck...........!

[nmaineron]

Its not a big job but there is a tool to hold the stud which makes the job much easier.

[jdpan]

I recall replacing the pins years ago on my '41 panhead.
It was straightforward. Knocked the old pins out, put in the new pins, peened the ends. It's the peening part that requires a little thought, a little patience, and a lot of careful... well, 'peening'.

I'll assume "41 panhead" was a typo?

No, not a typo. A lot of people don't catch it, or don't notice. The motor in my old chopper is a set of '41 knuck cases with '59 panhead barrels and heads 'grafted' onto it. I bought it in the early '70s, and have changed it very little over the years. Back then, guys did whatever they could to keep their bikes on the road-- and perhaps slapping a panhead top end on a knuck motor was a 'performance upgrade'.

I love that old chopper, it was my first Harley, and still my most favorite to ride of the three I have that are running. It's truly a wonderful morphadite--- that motor sits in a wishbone Harley frame, properly cut, raked, stripped of all tabs and brackets, and beautifully Bondoed. I guess you could call it a "survivor". I've thought about trying to tame it down a little and make it more original, but it would be an uphill battle all the way, and still wrong. Besides, it's my first Harley, and like I said, still the most fun...!

Maybe I just should've called it a '59 knuck...........!

That's pretty darned cool then! Got any pics??

[Bigincher]

That's pretty darned cool then! Got any pics??

Here's a photo from around 1980. Still had the sportster tank on it then, but soon swapped it out for a set of aftermarket 'split tanks' we used to call them.

ie4i.jpg

That old chopper was my only ride from the day I bought it in 1974 until I was able to add a '77 shovelhead to the stable in 1987. Naturally, the shovelhead got a lot more riding than the old chopper, so it sat in the corner for a lot of years. It got worse in 1994 when I bought a brand new Evo fatboy, then BOTH the other bikes saw less asphalt time.

Then about 5 or 6 years ago, I just had to ride my chopper again, so I spent a few weeks going through everything to make it totally road-worthy again. Here's a photo from then, with a friends '79 shovel in the background......







In the first photo, you'll see the extended springer that came on the bike, it was made in the '60s. It had what I call 'compensator rockers' on it, which moved the axle upward and forward a bit to correct the trail. It handled really nice with that set up.
Then on a trip through Yellowstone sometime in the '80s, that sucker developed a fatal crack, and I had to replace it. I found one the same length, but the old rockers wouldn't fit on the new springer. The one thing I need to do is fabricate new rockers to correct the trail. I've already done the design work and have plywood templates for the new rockers.
Then I bought this '52 that I'm slowly restoring, and... well.... you know the rest of the story.....


(Sorry for the hijack.....!)

[jdpan]

Nice looking pan/knuck, very cool!!

Jack over...

[Motorcyclemike]

As i was checking out that "Nuckle/Pan" i seen that mechanical brake pedals position........How in the world do you get from the forward foot pegs to the brake pedal FAST in a emergency situation........and with No front brake its scary for sure that way......Yes i ran with No front brake in the 60's and 70s too.....Been their done that !.......Yes thats a neat looking Ole School Chopper !

[58flh]

I have replaced quite a few of them!--As Big Incher said its pretty straight forward ,nock out the old ones & then pit the new ones in ALL of them Peen them some so they can be moved with some effort & slide your discs on to help line-up everything ,Then I put a spot-weld on each,check for free movement thru the whole pin & if good WELD THEM-UP! I find it easier to weld them & they stay in place a lot longer then peening!.--If you choose to peen ,By all means do it!--It works great to!---RICHIE

[Bigincher]

As i was checking out that "Nuckle/Pan" i seen that mechanical brake pedals position........How in the world do you get from the forward foot pegs to the brake pedal FAST in a emergency situation........and with No front brake its scary for sure that way......Yes i ran with No front brake in the 60's and 70s too.....Been their done that !.......Yes thats a neat looking Ole School Chopper !

I just got used to the brake pedal, my right foot is always on a hair trigger. And I learned to avoid panic situations as much as possible by never following too closely. When I have to stop fast, I learned how to apply just enough brake to not lock up the wheel, but it would still chirp. That was my only bike for 13 years, and I was lucky enough to never have to take drastic evasive action. Defense, defense, defense..!
Imagine how different it was for me when I got the full dress '77 King-of-the-Highway...! From one extreme to the other..!
And then imagine riding the old chopper again after years and years of it just sitting in the corner.... THAT was more scary than the first 13 years...!

[Bigincher]

I have replaced quite a few of them!--As Big Incher said its pretty straight forward ,nock out the old ones & then pit the new ones in ALL of them Peen them some so they can be moved with some effort & slide your discs on to help line-up everything ,Then I put a spot-weld on each,check for free movement thru the whole pin & if good WELD THEM-UP! I find it easier to weld them & they stay in place a lot longer then peening!.--If you choose to peen ,By all means do it!--It works great to!---RICHIE

Welding seems to be a one-time deal, whereas by peening, you can easily replace them again and again.
Of course, that was then and this is now---- I didn't have a Mig or a lathe back then. About all I had was a vice and a hammer...!

[Cotten]

There's reasons Folks,..

...for why they were peened in the first place.

The problem, however, is the quality of modern replacements.
The end must be annealed on my Tedd stock, and the threads on the other end tend to break in the fixture!

....Cotten

[Damon]

Thanks folks, looks like I'll get or make a support tool and do that job in the winter, save any off the road time in what's left of the British summer...

Damon.