Battery Box Lid

Is getting these lids to fit a common problem??

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FlatheadMaverick
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Battery Box Lid

#1

Post by FlatheadMaverick »

I'm trying to get everything buttoned back up after finally getting 13 miles on the rebuild/restoration. Can't get the battery box lid to fit! I want to persuade it with a hammer, but the paints too pretty. It's like the corners of the lid weren't made to go down over the corners of the battery box.

Is this a common problem after repainting?

I get one side on, the other side pops up. And the studs are too short to get the wing nuts started. I'd love a pair of longer custom T-studs to force the lid down (or at least hold it in place against the foam on top of the battery).

I'm trying to remember if the corners of the lid were originally split (from 40,000 miles of vibration), and maybe dad brazed them before refinishing. That was more than ten years ago, so I can't recall.

Two steps forward, one step back.
RUBONE
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Re: Battery Box Lid

#2

Post by RUBONE »

Are you using a stock 45 type lid or a Big Twin lid, which can cause the issue you are describing?
FlatheadMaverick
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Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2016 4:32 pm
Bikes: 1946 Harley WL 45
1970 Bridgestone 100 TMX
1981 Yamaha Seca 550
2011 Yamaha FJR 1300
Location: Northeast Ohio, USA
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Re: Battery Box Lid

#3

Post by FlatheadMaverick »

Well, this one's been in the family since 1949... as far as I know, it's the same battery box lid we took off the cycle when we tore it down 20-plus years ago... and from the pictures on the interwebs, it's a big twin lid. Wow.
Why in the world...
Why ask why, right?
Thanks, Rubone!!
FlatheadMaverick
Member
Posts: 19
Joined: Mon Aug 29, 2016 4:32 pm
Bikes: 1946 Harley WL 45
1970 Bridgestone 100 TMX
1981 Yamaha Seca 550
2011 Yamaha FJR 1300
Location: Northeast Ohio, USA
Has thanked: 12 times
Been thanked: 3 times

Re: Battery Box Lid

#4

Post by FlatheadMaverick »

Just to follow up on my previous post on this subject -- and RUBONE's great advice -- I was able to get a stock 45 battery box lid, and it installed and fit the way it's supposed to. I have no idea how many decades the wrong big-twin lid was on this cycle.
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