Rebuild engine from boxes

Requesting advice

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Excalibur
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Re: Rebuild engine from boxes

#196

Post by Excalibur »

Thanks Jim. I'm going to remake the shifter bracket, move it forward.

I think I discovered what the spare footbrake lever is off. Evo FXWG c1985. I also have the bracket with little eccentric pedal stop. A real nuggety thick piece of steel plate that is.
fc.jpg
The setup puts footpegs about 2" higher. The master mounts under timing cover. Will I have clearance to front header pipe though? How good of an idea is it to go this way. Note: I have the early cast iron master cyl.

Making progress
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Excalibur
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Re: Rebuild engine from boxes

#197

Post by Excalibur »

Project is coming along. Mocked up to check exhaust fit..
dp.jpg
Another thing I discovered is bracket to support battery box is missing and doesn't look like it had one recently. Oil tank repaired so probably stress cracked.
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Mongrel505558
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Re: Rebuild engine from boxes

#198

Post by Mongrel505558 »

Looking good! Which bracket for the battery tray support is missing? My '68 FLH, and if I remember correctly my '81 FX was the same, but with a smaller tray, mounted to two 1/4-20 rubber-encapsulated spring isolating studs (one on right rear frame downtube and one on a bracket bolted to two kicker cover studs) and two bolts to a bracket welded to the bottom of the oil tank. The oil tank was also suspended from the frame on the left side of the bike with two iso studs.
Excalibur
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Re: Rebuild engine from boxes

#199

Post by Excalibur »

Missing is the bracket mounted to kicker cover studs. Today I fixed one of those studs. It had been tapped out to 3/8"UNC and a reduced head capscrew substituted. I made a stepped stud so existing 5/16" chrome dome nuts can be fitted. Will make the bracket shortly.
Excalibur
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Re: Rebuild engine from boxes

#200

Post by Excalibur »

Got the crank trued, assembled and in the cases as outlined in another thread.

Assembled the alternator with allen head black capscrews. Loctite blue to secure.
One thread at alternator cover needed helicoil, others needed cleaning up.
Yet to fit shims to front engine mount but I have measured and recorded thickness as 0.015" and 0.025".
bdd1.jpg
Have great memories of these badges so I had to get one. Has -77 part number so a good match for a 70-80's bike. Harley were out of stock till recently.
bdd2.jpg
Made washer from some super tough 50mm steel round bar. It took ages to turn it. May have to loose some thickness if the pulley needs shimming more than 0.020"
bdd3.jpg
Jugs getting the hot soapy water treatment to clean up honing residue.
bdd4.jpg
I think I have the BDL belt identified. All markings were worn off. Has 8mm teeth, 2" wide and 144 teeth. The belt I keep coming up with is BDL-37144 2

Questions:
Is there a torque spec for lower engine to frame bolts? Found top mount figure.
Any tips to get the rubber band intake to seal? It's '78 - '81 type.
What's a good way of holding the front pulley for tightening/loosening?

Hope this is interesting. Appreciate the help thus far. Thanks.
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59Panman
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Re: Rebuild engine from boxes

#201

Post by 59Panman »

Excalibur,

Here is a jam bar you can fabricate. You may need to check the dimensions as I am not sure if the distance between hubs is the same hence the belt tooth counts are different?

You can also contact Dan @ BDL. Very nice to talk to. Dan sent me a extra steel plate for free to me to weld a handle on to it, so I could hold my clutch basket when I torque the hub nut. I run the BDL Competitor Clutch on my '59. I attached my clutch info as well. My belt is 132 teeth, part # 30853.

DAN, BDL 714-693-1313  Ext. 227 or 232
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RooDog
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Re: Rebuild engine from boxes

#202

Post by RooDog »

Using a power impact wrench takes a little common sense to not hammer the thing down so tight as to damage the taper. Also the real danger of a power wrench is the possibility of loosening the internal nut at the in-side end of the sprocket shaft. So it is best not to use a power wrench. And a lock bar is the way to go..... But what to do if one has no belt, chain, or the engine is out of the chassis?
PS: But, I do use an impact wrench, my bad....
....RooDog....
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Re: Rebuild engine from boxes

#203

Post by PanPal »

I have this belt set up currently. It happens that my motor is currently on a engine stand and I will be attempting to remove the motor pulley. I’m going back to a chain drive and enclosed primary. I have a spare belt purchased years ago made by Jason. It says made in USA do not crimp, 1152-8M and a row of 50’s across the 2” width on the belt.
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Re: Rebuild engine from boxes

#204

Post by Andygears »

Some type of strap wrench, on the bench, could hold the pulley for removal.

And when removing an early tapered chain sprocket, a regular steering wheel puller with long bolts & washers into tooth notches and held on there with a large hose clamp on the teeth.

Andygears
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Re: Rebuild engine from boxes

#205

Post by nmaineron »

Getting the front comp sprocket off has many stories behind it, especially done without any of the tools needed to do it right with. That nut torques up in use. I've seen guys use a 4' pipe wrench and jumping on it and still not break the torque. I have an inner primary that is totaled, by using a pipe on a wrench and some creative jumping. The nut won, the inner primary blew out at the clutch hub and actually bent the main shaft in the transmission. I vote for the impact for removal.
Excalibur
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Re: Rebuild engine from boxes

#206

Post by Excalibur »

Nice little discussion with great snippets of info, thanks, it helps.

So, the jam bar idea is what I use on my chain drive primary Pan. I wasn't sure if it was OK for alloy belt pulleys but anyway I'm encouraged.
A quick measure shows 8.5" should do the trick. Plasti-dip is an interesting idea. I suppose the idea is to avoid marking the pulleys.

Got the jugs on after grooming the wrist pin snapring grooves. Spirolox were too tight a fit so they sat atop the grooves and not positively snap into them. Also I had to grind .040" off the wrist pin lengths, which are Evo items that match the rod pair.

Mocked heads up to check intake details. Looks like there'll be a gap between each head intake stub and the manifold stubs> Is this how they are?
The jugs are still loosely bolted for alignment purposes. Sudden thought: should I use a bevel square and set heads exactly to same angle as manifold?
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Re: Rebuild engine from boxes

#207

Post by RooDog »

The pistons and keepers are a dedicated and matched assembly. One must use the style keeper the piston is designed for.
The round wire goes in a rounded groove, with a matching wrist pin that has the ends beveled to help push the wire tighter into the groove should contact be made.
The snap ring style keeper, with the two small holes for a tool, fits a square cut piston groove.
And the Spirolox square groove also has a 12 o'click notch to allow a pick tool access to the spiral keeper for removal.
They should not be cross mixed....
https://auto.jepistons.com/blog/wrist-p ... stall-them
....RooDog....
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Re: Rebuild engine from boxes

#208

Post by Mongrel505558 »

Excalibur wrote: Wed Apr 13, 2022 11:15 am Nice little discussion with great snippets of info, thanks, it helps.

So, the jam bar idea is what I use on my chain drive primary Pan. I wasn't sure if it was OK for alloy belt pulleys but anyway I'm encouraged.
A quick measure shows 8.5" should do the trick. Plasti-dip is an interesting idea. I suppose the idea is to avoid marking the pulleys.

Got the jugs on after grooming the wrist pin snapring grooves. Spirolox were too tight a fit so they sat atop the grooves and not positively snap into them. Also I had to grind .040" off the wrist pin lengths, which are Evo items that match the rod pair.

Mocked heads up to check intake details. Looks like there'll be a gap between each head intake stub and the manifold stubs> Is this how they are?
The jugs are still loosely bolted for alignment purposes. Sudden thought: should I use a bevel square and set heads exactly to same angle as manifold?
I leave the head bolts loose when I install the manifold. The head bolt hole clearance in the jugs provides a little wiggle room for the heads to rotate. As I tighten the clamps (aircraft-style stainless steel band clamps) they pull the heads square with the manifold. After the manifold is installed I torque the head bolts. After you do this you can remove the manifold as many times as you like until the next time you remove the heads. Then you'll have to repeat the process.

A gap between the manifold and head ports is not uncommon. There are a lot of factors like base and head gasket thickness, manufacturing tolerances, etc., that can create the gap.
Excalibur
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Re: Rebuild engine from boxes

#209

Post by Excalibur »

Thanks for the thoughts.

Roo, agree with everything you said. Spirolox are what came with these JCC pistons only the (square cut) grooves were a couple thou too narrow.

Jim, it's been many moons since I fitted up a Y manifold. Indeed my old Shovel had rubber bands same as this bike I have now.
It's why I haven't torqued the base nuts so there's extra wiggle room if needed. Liking the method of finding head orientation by allowing heads to settle in their happy place. I have ss band clamps.
I have an Evo upswept manifold which am thinking of adapting to Shovel type. Looks like I need sleeve the hose stubs and trim to length. This means I can have zero gap. Will need this upswept manifold if I'm to optionally run the 5gal tanks, also better for leg room.
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Re: Rebuild engine from boxes

#210

Post by Mongrel505558 »

Excalibur wrote: Thu Apr 14, 2022 10:37 am Thanks for the thoughts.

Roo, agree with everything you said. Spirolox are what came with these JCC pistons only the (square cut) grooves were a couple thou too narrow.

Jim, it's been many moons since I fitted up a Y manifold. Indeed my old Shovel had rubber bands same as this bike I have now.
It's why I haven't torqued the base nuts so there's extra wiggle room if needed. Liking the method of finding head orientation by allowing heads to settle in their happy place. I have ss band clamps.
I have an Evo upswept manifold which am thinking of adapting to Shovel type. Looks like I need sleeve the hose stubs and trim to length. This means I can have zero gap. Will need this upswept manifold if I'm to optionally run the 5gal tanks, also better for leg room.
Leaving the base nuts loose accomplishes the same thing. In fact, when I put the top end back on my shovel I think I will leave the head bolts AND base nuts loose and install the manifold.
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