WOrk in progress

Heads arrive

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:07:33 -0600

Today the heads were delivered. I decided to have them do the valve job and assemble the valves for me. Saying they turned out nice is an understatement. The only problem, I miscommunicated with them and they installed the intake ports for the O-Ring style manifold, which was not original for 1948

More Parts Arrive

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:02:16 -0600

The generator parts arrived today, along with he pistons I bought off ebay.The only problem is the pistons don’t have any rings with them, so looks like my half off bargain tuned into only saving $5-$10

Generator and Jug clean up.

Sun, 23 Nov 2008 15:05:21 -0600

Today cleaned up the jugs and generator parts. As you can see they were in need of a good cleaning. Tony also had an extra housing piece to replace the melted on of mine.

After I blasted the new jugs I compared them to the original to make certain they were in fact the correct early Panhead jugs.

Flywheel Breakdown & Wrong Rods

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 15:00:18 -0600

I wanted to drop off more parts to Tony so the motor work could get going. Today I took apart the flywheels and cleaned them up a bit.

Also, I dropped off all the new engine internals I had bought, the JIMS shafts and races, bushings, gasket kit etc.

A discover was made, when reviewing the parts list on the items I needed to order, I was asking about the rods we had gotten. I question it there were the right ones for this motor as they were defiantly different then the ones that had came out of it. In our conversation it was discovered that some one had put the wrong rods in Grandpa’s motor. I knew someone had been in the motor because it had been bored .050” over. What I didn’t know until now, was that the cases had been split in half along with the flywheels. The rods that were removed were the open style rods, rods that H-D quite using in 1939. The new rods were the correct stronger closed rods. This explains why the rods broke. The two rod types are completely interchangeable, the new closed style helps with oiling. Grandpa wasn’t know for staying on top of maintenance like he should have been and these open rods were a design that defiantly needed a little more TLC then the close rod style.

Tony was able to teat apart he generator, so we went a head and made a new list of what parts I was going to need to get.

Speedo and Heads

Tue, 4 Nov 2008 01:55:46 -0600

Today, I went and picked up my package from the Post Office. Not sure what ebay purchase it was going to be, I excitedly opened the box to find a perfectly restored speedometer. This didn’t start off as mine, as you can see, I am skeptical about how much of mine is restorable. This purchase could have waited until later, but looking into its perfect face the motivation alone is worth buying it early.

I also received a phone call from Phil at Advanced Cycle Machining. He wanted to inform me that they received my heads and that they looked really great for the age. He is going to check everything over and repair the missing intake threads on the rear head. He was a very nice fellow and in talking to him I found out a couple of neat stories. One, he has been doing H-D engine work for over 40 years and it sounds like they can fix anything. He even told me that he has made patterns before to replace hole sections of cases that were blown apart. He made my heads seem like a joke compared to some of the stuff they get in there to fix up. For me, that is good.

More interesting to me, was the story Phil told about his first job at an Authorized Harley-Davidson dealer. Knowing about Grandpas bike at this point he explained to me the first task he had at that dealership was to increate a brand new 1948 Panhead motorcycle. I jokingly ask what color, he simply replied “Black”. Phil confirmed that they didn’t have two many black colored bikes back then, everyone wanted the free color upgrade. Phil also told me that he worked at Harley-Davidson before AMF owned it. Hearing this makes me wish I would have the time to drive the 6 hours to pickup and drop off those heads, just to hear more stories.

The heads will take about a month to get back.

My next parts order was placed, and shipped, this morning, I should be getting the races before the weekend.

Speedy Delivery

Mon, 3 Nov 2008 01:31:45 -0600

After shopping around for pricing and availability I placed and order last thursday for some of the main engine components. To my surprise the parts I ordered were already here waiting for me. Now this weekend I can drop my cases and the races off so they can be lined honed next week.

My order consisted of
• Valve springs
• Crank Pin
• Sprocket Shaft
• Push Rods
• Complete Gasket Kit
• Tappet Rollers
• Gear Shafts
• Misc Bushings

But wait.... were are the case races I need for the weekend, well needless to say I forgot to add them to my order.

So another order has been placed and I should still get them by this weekend.

I also received a claim ticket for a package at the post office..... I wonder what that might be...

Jugs, Rods, Hardware and a Cam

Sat, 1 Nov 2008 19:33:27 -0500

Tony, was able to locate some much needed parts, jugs, rods, and a cam. So, today I took the time to go up, check out the parts, and review my motor hardware to determine what can be reused.

There really wasn’t much from the motor hardware that is going to be reused. It all look well enough to clean up, parkerized and Cad plate.

I was able to locate the needed engine parts at one location. I discovered that Grandpa owning a smaller less powerful 61 C.I. bike turned out for the better. It was very common for most people to take apart the 61 inch motor and put in 74 inch parts. This act makes it much easier to find parts for the 61’s over the 74’s. As seen in the above picture I was able to get a nearly brand new 61” cam, it looks like it wasn’t hardly ran, the tag was marked 1950 61”, I think it was written in 1950. I was also able to find a set of early 61” Panhead jugs, these should be identical to the ones that came off the bike.

Head Repair

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 19:42:40 -0500

I was finally able to ship my heads out for repair, not the one shown in the picture. Tony had given me the name of a company in Superior Wisconsin. I gave them a call, and with a note in the box shipped them out UPS. I am having them check the seats and decks on both heads, along with repairing the stripped out intake manifold threads on the rear head.

Sounds like if I had gotten them these heads a week ago I would have them back next week, but now its going to be closer to a month.

Drive Sprocket and Drums

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 19:31:56 -0500

I was able to pick up my freshly turned drums and relined shoes today. Upon getting them home I removed the drive sprocket from the rear drum. Using a sharp chisel, I knocked the heads off the rivets and used a straight punch to knock them lose.

Motor Rebuild Inventory - NOT COMPLETED

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 19:38:41 -0500

Now that I am getting closer to rebuilding the motor, I drove up to Tony’s to go over my engine components.

MORE TO COME ON THIS SOON!!!