I'll be interested to her other's experiences before taking the plunge. Pacific Mike, the vintage Harley guy on Youtube, recently posted the below video discussing his--the same one I was considering. I believe he cleaned up his cases and some other parts in it.

He was just beginning to experiment with solutions, though. I think he started out just soap and warm water...?

 

I like Pacific Mike. He's got some good stuff that's applicable to the panhead.. I couldn't find a follow-on to that video.. He shows some cases that had been cleaned before but I wonder what he was using for cleaner on those? Dawn and water? I suspect only water. In that case what he is likely removing is polishing compound buildup.. It's not more than a wax with abrasive.. At 80C, it will soffen.

I have the exact same cleaner along with a HF smaller one.. Tried Dawn, Simple green, Purple whatever, metal descaler (has a little phosphoric acid) , fuel tank sealing kit soap, some swiss air filter cleaner and automotive industrial cleaner. They either don't work or discolor the metal.. I'm thinking of trying PH sensitive wheel cleaner but really don't have anything I need cleaned right now.

 

Oh, well... in that case it's probably not worth the money--which I can spend on new bushings, bearings, gaskets, etc. I was planning on just scrubbing it painstakingly, perhaps some careful finger-pressure with red scotch brite...? Sounds like that may be my default. I really do not want to discolor a set of original cases with matching belly numbers. I greatly appreciate you letting me know what you've tried!

 

I'm starting to line up parts to get myself motivated to tackle the rebuild when things cool off in the garage, and have two oil pump questions - please see attached photos...

According to the '48-57 FL manual, the pump on my F'51 FL should have two identical caps--or 'valve guides'--part no. 10 & 11 in the first photo (it doesn't - just slightly different threaded caps with no protruding center portion extending into the spring; there was a separate, internal threaded piece in the regulating valve if memory serves... and in the check valve location what looks like V Twin 12-1481).

Colony sells a kit, part no. 2325-3 (2nd pic), which comes with the correct cap for both locations and the correct regulating valve spring, 26354-72. But Colony is calling out this part for K and KH models, and not the FL to which my '48-57 FL manual applies.

Dennis Kirk sells the correct check valve spring, 26363-36 but not the regulating valve spring above or the right check valve (ball), 26400-52A. Instead, all I get for the valve(s) is 8866, which comes in the Colony kit and is sold by James, et al.

So, my questions:

1) On the valves, assuming that valve no. 8866 supersedes 26400-52A (i.e., a ball versus a plunger with a semi-spherical end), I'd just buy two 2325-3 Colony kits to net the valves and caps to match the manual's illustration and discussion of pump function. So, I'm obviously leaning toward trusting the manual rather than Colony's fitment info.

Anything wrong with this approach?


2) On the springs, I believe that I can use the one that comes with the Colony kit for the regulating valve location and would then have a spare, but will need to buy the check valve spring separately from Dennis Kirk. My concern is, per the Harley manual's discussion, these springs have very different operating pressures: regulating valve, by-passing occurs at about 30 psi; check valve, to prevent leakage (wet sumping), opens at about 1.5 psi.

So, contrary to what some local people have told me, I don't think I can just use two of the same spring. Also, it seems to me that the caps have to be right to establish the right preload on the springs (the threads on the V Twin check valve cap are not as long as those on the Colony cap).

Am I missing anything here?

Thanks, as always.

 

Used this book and it's companion to rebuild a brother's 58 pan. You might find it helpful.

 

Hey, thanks. Looks like a good one to have!

 

So, I had to pause the second resurrection of this bike to snag a very hard-to-get UK-made, Morgo 750cc upgrade kit for my '71 Bonneville's rebuild whenever this engine wears out (they don't manufacture the kits very often and then only in really small lots).

But I'm now starting to catalogue some parts that I know I'll need to get this old girl back on the road again. I think I'm going to go with someone's earlier suggestion to keep the bike in its existing configuration: a Pan-Shovel. Because so far as I know the only top end damage due to loss of oil pressure is likely to be toasted bushings in the rocker arms. Maybe some valve guides damaged...?

But that's just a matter of heating the head and driving out the guides with my small impact hammer, if I'm correct...?

I'm expecting, especially from the gawd-awful squeaking I get when trying to turn the engine, that the bulk of the damage is going to be timing cover bushings, and rod and main roller bearings. Maybe cam and tappets? Has anyone suffered an oil loss situation with a Panhead who can anticipate the likely damage?

 

I got an unpleasant surprise when scrutinizing the heads while moving motorcycles around today. Looks like two cracks in the (new S&S) rear cylinder head. These have scarcely 3,000 miles on them.

One to the left of the logo is pretty small, but the other extends up onto the top if you look carefully.

Anybody had this issue with their heads?

I'm assuming this could be TIG welded if it hasn't gone through into the compression chamber...?

 

Is it a crack or simply a oil leak from the rocker box?

 

Must be the Venom tires everybody likes so much.