Engine rebuild

17Aug2021 

The cylinder jugs were damaged and cracked so new V-twin cylinder kit was bought.

Tiny crack in cylinder skirt...

New kit was very reasonable at $478USD. Shipping was $69

I cleaned up the oil pump with soda blast. It will get multiple washes with hot soapy water and degreaser before assembly. Currently the gears protrude about .005" - .006" and the gasket are .010". With some gasket crush it should end up with gear endplay within .002" -.005" tolerance range.

With also check to ensure oil pump spins freely when torqued down. Probably I'll leave the drive worm gear off the crank, check the oil pump for free spinning before finally assembling worm, pinion etc..

 Initial cleanup completed. Got all the paint off the cases.

Front mounts had been fretting loose. Will dress with a file and shim them.

Just as well I took out the pinion shaft. Schrapnel was trapped where it couldn't be seen.

Bike had a spin-on oil filter. It was almost worn through where it was pounding.

Timing covers. Original to left. It's likely to have schrapnel stuck in where it can't be easily removed.. Pondering over using the one to the right but technically the bush needs to be line bored.

Some of the metal particles in the filter

New crankpin thrusts turned up. Surprised they are yellow brass rather than red bronze. Pondering. Update: Bought OEM.

Put this cover in the dishwasher. It came up real clean, however I don't recommend because aluminum can go very dark. Probably the washing powder is caustic. Neutralize with baking soda maybe?.

Setting rocker endplay. I turned spacers of the correct dimensions. The shafts were recessed in the spacers to set endplay of .004" - .006". Spacer with a few thou recess.

Heating the spacers to harden with Brownells surface hardening compound. Warning: don't breathe the smoke form this stuff. It smells highly toxic.

5Oct2021 Shimming engine mounts. With empty engine cases, the rear mount bolts were tightened, then gap at front was measured. This figure gives shim thickness. Left varied slightly from right. When engine gets mounted, shims of the correct thicknesses will be inserted.

Parts ready to go to the machinist for sizing bearing races.

Magnets fitted inside tank filter.

Crank trued to .001"

Crankpin thrust staking. It was clamped firmly before staking at 6 points.

Genuine Harley thrust washers.

Pinion bearing shows order of assembly

Checking endplay. settled on 0.0015"

Drive side seal journal was marked, Luckily the seal runs inside the damage area. It polished up OK.

Test fitting nosecone. It was a 2nd hand item, genuine Harley. Fitted perfect, bushing-to-shaft.

Assembling the cases..

Oil pump got assembled and tested for free-ness before pinion gears fitted.

Oil pump gasket lightly wetted with Loctite 515. The beauty of this sealant is it's anaerobic, meaning it cures in the absence of oxygen. Any excess will wash away.

Simple ring compressor made from PVC pipe. I held it by hand but holding with a hose clip would probably work fine too.

Washing the cylinders with hot soapy water. This important step cleans off damaging hone grit residue. The rule is, keep cleaning till a clean white rag can be rubbed on bore without leaving dirty telltale.

Progress... mockup, checking exhaust and intake details.

Checking cam endplay

Scotchbrite to clean gasket surfaces back to shiny metal

Breather spacer, made then hardened with Brownells.

Drilling out lifter roller rivets pins. Lifters themselves were polished with #400 wet&dry then wire buffed.

Hydraulic lifters were washed in solvent and cleaned with air gun blast. Roller axles were peened by hand with a small ballpeen hammer till rivet was almost flush.

Lifter blocks were aligned using a countersunk capscrew.