Popular Post Lord Gruntfuttock Posted January 4, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted January 4, 2023 Sick of the leaks (was actually becoming embarrassing as well as messy) I thought I'd pull the old girl down for a refresh... Dismantled a lot of bits and wrestled the engine out, while also wrestling a rib out of my sternum. These are not a light unit... and sat it straight into the engine stand I'd bought for just this sort of thing... Pulled rocker covers off while it was on the ground and gave them a clean up, not looking too bad... Apart from one pushrod tube which was very jagged... So I cleaned that up with a file and fine sandpaper... A couple of the pushrods were showing signs of wear... And as I'm damaged, I used the engine crane to lift it onto the bench for further work... 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Lord Gruntfuttock Posted January 4, 2023 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 4, 2023 Rigged up a clutch compression tool today out of scrap... Fitted it thus... and removed the nyloc nuts, unwound things and removed the clutch springs... Removed the tensioner arm, which is showing wear (grooves) on the pad... And removed the clutch. This is where I stop till I can make the next tool... And making a list of bits I need now... 20 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goat Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 Shitcheah, Subscribed 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted January 5, 2023 Author Share Posted January 5, 2023 Seems I'm missing the compensator sprocket (as per pic below) But consensus is they're not necessary (a lot of people remove them) and it's another tool I don't need to make to remove it. Whizzed off the front sprocket nut with the 18V impact, made up some shonky lock plates out of scrap and locked the clutch basket/sprockets together... Didn't have a 1-1/2" socket for the clutch hub nut, but a mate had a 38mm one that would save me a trip into town, except it didn't as I had to go grab a 1/2 to 3/4 drive adapter. Tried undoing the nut with a pry bar but my lightweight lock plates started bending, so used rattle gun again and all came apart. Pulled the sprockets and chain off together, using a puller on the front sprocket, and it all looks pretty clean... And a simple job to pry out the seal behind the front sprocket that I thought was causing a problem (primary case filling with oil). Apart from being a bit hard, there was no obvious point of failure, can still read the part number too... There's a spacer around it, slightly damaged from previous work by the looks, but inner surface seems ok. For the life of me though I can't figure out how it's supposed to seal around the splines? Time for some research... [Edit] Dumb. The sprocket goes on splines and seal is around sprocket... 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goat Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 I was gonna say that early Ironheads (76 and earlier) had a transfer valve between primary and crank. This often fails and needs to be blocked. But I can see its got some Kneed-it mashed in there in the last pic. Most people seem to block this off as it often fails then fills the primary with oil if your oil pump check valve is weak. So when the bike sits, the oil drains into the crank, then through his hole and into the primary. And when the bike is running, it just blows oil through into the primary. The early ironheads actually had a timed oil pump !!?! It had a rotating shaft in the bottom of the crank case that had a slot that aligned/opend to the crank when the pistons were coming down (positive crank case pressure) so the crank pressure would push the oil out. This oil transfer valve would work the other way. Negative crank case pressure would suck from the primary through this valve. Maybe have a go at re-plugging it, or take that putty out and actually put a screw in it to make sure its proper sealed. Or replace it. With the transfer valve plugged, you'll need to vent the trans/primary though one of the top bolt holes for engine mount. Later Ironheads had special breather bolt (a hollow bolt with a nipple on top that vented to the oil cap). Edit: Vent bolt part number: 34744-77 Transfer valve info: http://sportsterpedia.com/doku.php/techtalk:ih:oil01 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted January 5, 2023 Author Share Posted January 5, 2023 Yeah ta, that pic is deceptive, actually a fine mesh, just been pushed in... And already got a vented bolt on top of the case... I've re-seated the check ball in the pump so that should minimise leaking (sumping), and I expect some to drain in there, that gets pumped back when running - but if I leave it sitting there's several litres that has to be drained out. I'll replace the seal and check that transfer valve and see how we go. Cheers for the advice though, appreciate it... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goat Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 Haha, looks like an oily fingerprint in some epoxy putty. lol. Hopefully the ball valve will fix the wet sumping!. Which would lead to the primary filling problem if the transfer valve isnt working properly. Smoking barrel?? fingers crossed. Weird you've already got a breather. Wonder if that is messing with the transfer valve operation/probably not. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted January 7, 2023 Author Share Posted January 7, 2023 Discovered I had a cam tensioner pad in one of my gasket kits so fitted it. Of course I discovered this the day after I ordered one... Pulled the gearcase (cam) cover. Was aware of losing bits so took it very carefully, easing off the cover. Careful... Careful... Arse... And that was even trying to keep the gears in place with a long screwdriver as I removed cover. Not the biggest deal as I'd probably remove them to clean/inspect things anyway, and at least all the shims stayed in place so I knew where they all go... There's a blob of weld from what I assume is an old repair on the underside of the cover, it's in an unobtrusive place so debated leaving it, but decided to give it a tickle up with a file... And gasket surfaces cleaned up... I'll leave it here while I look into cam timing methods, not sure how I'll rotate engine yet, but will sort that out... 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted January 7, 2023 Author Share Posted January 7, 2023 Put nut back on main shaft and can rotate engine no worries, will sort timing next. And turns out that weld is a factory Harley thing, added after drilling out an oil passage during construction. Apparently HD put out a service note stating you can discard the shims as they can fail and send bits of metal through the engine. Will look into that. Also hit the case on the buffer wheel for about 5 mins... 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Lord Gruntfuttock Posted January 8, 2023 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 8, 2023 Pulled the cams to check condition and clean things up, all looked in pretty good condition... They're labelled P cams, which I think are stock for a '75, and are a decent all-round cam...? Checked the timing breather valve as per manual, just because I could see everything, then had a go at lining up the cam gears, starting with the pinion gear mark at around the 11 o'clock position... And had a bit of trouble getting things to line up perfectly, cams 1,2,3 were no problem, but number 4 didn't appear to line up correctly. Tried shifting it one tooth over from here, but that looked worse... But turning the engine slightly showed the marks lining up better... Can see why people get frustrated... I used a bit of loctite on the intermediate gear bushing that had popped out of the cover, fitted new shaft seal and gasket and loosely buttoned up the cover... I re-installed the shims as I was confident where they came from, they all looked in great shape, and I had no issues previously. The manual said to install a fibre washer in front of the intermediate (idler) gear, but I tried that and the cover would not sit flush, so removed it (there was none in there before). Hopefully this side is done now... 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted January 9, 2023 Author Share Posted January 9, 2023 Had a thought last night about wiring the new ignition, yep no way could I get the wires through the teeny hole, so pulled cover again and drilled out. Took it in stages to avoid breaching the casting, and 7mm does the trick... Cleaned up the swarf and put cover back on loosely. Should prob check the lifters next... 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimjon Posted January 9, 2023 Share Posted January 9, 2023 Epic bike, more photos of it beforehand please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted January 9, 2023 Author Share Posted January 9, 2023 Had a whole build thread but photobucket turned into a dick. Started thus... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Lord Gruntfuttock Posted January 9, 2023 Author Popular Post Share Posted January 9, 2023 Then sorta... 16 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted January 10, 2023 Author Share Posted January 10, 2023 Been wrenchin... Tried to pull apart the rocker covers, what a drama. Bit of heat got them apart enough to get out, but struggling to get the o-ring end screw out of the shaft... Tried heat and a rattle gun/allen key but no joy, then tried drilling and tapping a thin piece of scrap and screwing the acorn nut up tight, still nothing. Scared of stripping the thread so stopped... Centre drilled then drilled out the screw to see if it helped, makes it easier to get penetrating oil in there anyway... Not sure of screw size so only drilled a small hole through, currently soaking in penetrant while I look at other things... Filed the show side of the first cover flat as it was pretty rough... Followed up with a block and different grades of paper and some elbow grease... Then a few minutes on the wheel and looks much better... Also looked at fitting some rearsets, as I'm a bit cramped with standard pegs. Want to do away with the awkward '75 cross-shaft gear linkage too, maybe use that for the brake. Will be a right-foot change backwards pattern potentially... Want them to be about here ideally... Would be so easy without the pipes and kick-start being in the way, just fabricate a bracket bolted to the two holes on bottom rear of frame. Guess I'll wait till things are back in to see what is possible... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted January 10, 2023 Author Share Posted January 10, 2023 Got'eem... Knew I was on the right track. Bit of a soak, bit more heat and they rattled out with the black part of the shaft clamped in a vise. 2 to go, but at least I know what I'm dealing with now... 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SOHC Posted January 10, 2023 Share Posted January 10, 2023 That little cut out in the top of the rocker box is called "the Texas notch" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted February 4, 2023 Author Share Posted February 4, 2023 Waiting on parts but been doing a bit. Gave engine a rattle can rebuild... And looked at my kicker install, I'd bought a used clutch basket ages ago with the kicker ratchet attached, as I'd heard they were better quality than the pressed steel ones in the kit. I thought it'd be an easy clean and install job, till I looked at them both and realised the 'new' one didn't have the starter gear... So was either remove the starter gear and weld it to the replacement clutch basket, or fit the starter ratchet to my one, I'm more confident in my drilling and tapping than my welding so took that route. Started by machining up a spacer out of aluminium, using an old bearing for sizing up on the lathe. Got to use my awesome little power hacksaw too... Successfully centred... There were a few weld splatters on the flat surface so took them off with a sanding disc... And fitted the first screw. Used M5 countersunks as easily available. Quite hard to tap as drilled 4mm instead of recommended 4.2mm and it's hard steel, but got there, with lots of backing off to clear the threads... Drilled the others out after marking the centres... And all done, loosely buttoned up... I might replace these stainless screws with black allen head ones yet, also unsure if the screws going though will cause any issues? I'll look at the clutch parts/reassemble to see if I need to cut these down flush, but some progress anyway... 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Gruntfuttock Posted February 5, 2023 Author Share Posted February 5, 2023 Looks like no issues with protruding screws, will clean the edges of the holes and loctite the screws in later... Started installing kicker hardware, there was a blanking plug in the case blocking the shaft hole... And the bush and oil seal were already in there. The round pin lower left is the thrust plate retainer... Slid the shaft in with shim and thrust plate... Other side, square one is the kickstart shaft, the round stop pin was already in the case... First piece in, the gear on the shaft... And the ratchet engaging gear, spacer and spring on... Was all going too well, the new sprocket cover with kickstart shaft bushing fouls the shift operating arm (RHS of pic). These arms are only on the 75 models that have a horrible crossover shaft system as they changed from right foot shift... Difference in old and new covers is obvious... So I notched the strengthening web casting of the cover and trimmed the edges slightly for clearance. Hope this doesn't weaken things too much as they are prone to cracking anyway... Should have enough clearance for the chain now, can adjust further when back in the bike if required... 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goat Posted February 6, 2023 Share Posted February 6, 2023 Rad! The amount of force on that sprocket cover bush is mental. Cutting away the cover may cause it to break. It was a real problem with the 77 covers. HD actually released a fix for it. A little bolt on bracket to add support for the bushed area of the sprocket cover. These are only for the 77 and are also NLA. I made my own one for my bike. Wonder if you should do something similar while its all appart? Look like this: Will need to figure out a way to mount it to your sprocket cover. But then you can wail on that kicker with no worries about it giving way! 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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