here is a little background, just got this bike last tues. traded my 01' Fxdwg for it.

bike has 32,000mi
fuel injected
95" BB
S&S gear drive
cams (not sure witch ones)
power commander
unsure of head work such as porting, decking etc etc...

when i got it home i noticed an oil leak near the exhaust on the front cyl. after inspection it appears someone has JB welded the top two cooling fins near the exhaust. oil appears to be seeping through. pulled exhaust, the carbon build up in the exhaust port seems about 95% dry, except one little spot where i imagine it may be cracked through and leaking a little oil.

the plan,
replace the heads... I got a set with 100mi on them off ebay for $200. but they are from an 03'

obviously i wont know what head work if any was done untill i get them off, if there is porting or mods i will address it at that time. for now i would like to make up a parts list and attempt to get everything i need before i pull them off. the bike needs to get me to work so im crossing my fingers on this one.

my questions are,
while i have the heads off, what else should i replace? oil pump? rocker arm bearings? lifters??? what should be considered a wear item and replaced at 32,000mi if only pulling the heads off? how about o rings, or gaskets on the intake?
should i pull the jugs off and replace the gaskets between them and the case?

also, going from 05' heads to 03' heads i understand there are some differences in valves and valve springs. whats the max lift i should run on a stock 03' head? I plan to fig out what lift cams i have and want to make sure im not gonna hurt something. in regards to head gasket thickness, what should i run .03"? i know it depends on if the heads are decked and what cc the combustion chambers are... it might be kinda hard to fig this one out before pulling it all down.

my bike has an interesting "valve train noise" im guessing since it has cams there is a possibility the rocker arms are contacting the rocker boxes. any reason i shouldn't put the rocker boxes on the mill and clearance them a little?

anything else i should consider while i have it apart?

 

If looking for a good cam that'll have that 88"er feel quite different, then take a look at an Andrews 26.
If even more is considered, then boring to 98", and an Andrews 37, with cylinder head mods will be a HUGE reliable gain.
Of the items listed that you are questioning for replacement, lifters would be the only thing to consider.
Scott

 

Replace lifters and plan on replacing cylinder base o-ring and all affected gaskets/seals. You may not be planning to remove the cylinders but if not careful you will break that base seal which would be cause enough to replace the o-ring. '05 heads had 7mm valves and beehive springs; '03 heads had 5/16" valve and straight wound springs so internals are not interchangeable. Early heads had an advertised lift of .510", so you really need to know the lift of your current cams before putting it back together. The cams may be identified; check for part numbers or markings. I woudl run a compression test before tear down, just for a baseline and a figure to use to work backwards from to make other assessments about the engine.

You can have the '05 heads ccd to verify chamber volume. Check head gasket type and thickness. Are pushrods stock or adjustables? You can tell if the rocker arms are hitting the rocker boxes, it will leave marks and you can dremel that area to clear the webbing which is most likely the area of contact.

 

thanks, at this time since money is tight im just looking to replace what needs to be replaced to do the job right the first time. this bike is already much faster than the stock dyna i traded for it : D

this is pretty much what i was planning to do. pushrods are adjustables. when you say "internals are not interchangeable" your talking just about valves and springs? or do i need different rocker arms as well?

If my cam has more than .510 lift, can the 03' heads be modified to handle more lift? different springs? machine work? whats need if anyting to handle it?

in regards to lifters, stock? brand "A", brand "B" is one better than the other?

I was hoping to not have to pull the jugs, but if the seal at the case will be compromised obviously it would be in my best interest to change it but that leads to even more desire and "well if i got it that far apart its a shame to not freshen it up" sorta thing... ill measure the pistons and check the cyl with a bore guage, if its all within spec, should i just hit it with the hone real quick and toss new rings on the pistons? I have always been taught never to reuse old piston rings once you remove a piston...

thanks for the input guys its much appreciated!

 

'03 heads can be modified to accept higher lift with different springs; my '02 has .600 lift springs with no machine work required to accept the springs. You will want to mock up at least one head with a "checker spring" (I use a spring out of an old slide carb for this) and roll the motor over a few revolutions to make sure the spring retainer doesn't hit the top of the valve guide/valve stem seal. I've run .585 lift cams and didn't have any interference issues.

Check out Comp Cams Vthunder lifters; never used them myself but they're inexpensive and from what I hear good quality.

You didn't ask about this but I'll throw it out there: I just took djl's advice and got a bunch of gaskets and o-rings for my upcoming winter project from Cyco Gaskets. I can't believe how inexpensive they are. As long as the quality is good, that's where I'll be getting gaskets and seals from now on.

As for running a hone through your cylinders, I pulled mine apart to hop it up at 42,000 miles, assuming that the cylinders would need boring and honing. This based on my experience with my stroker Ironhead from years back, which put a hurting on pistons and cylinders (I whupped the tar out of that poor bike). I was astonished to see the honing in the cylinders still looked perfect, no glazing, and the piston skirts still had the coating on them. The coating was somewhat thinner than new, but I'd been told that this coating wears off very quickly during break-in, and there is was, still on the pistons at 42,000 miles. So Unless you have plan to increase compression, there's probably no reason at all to get into honing the jugs. And since honing is done with torque plates, I'd say that if the hone in the cylinders looks good, running a ball hone (or similar) through them might do more harm than good. At least, that's my opinion based on the above experience.

 

valves, springs, guides, retainers and guide seals are different; rocker arms are same

New springs are needed to increase lift; easy to change if you know what you are doing.
VThunder lifters are OK; H-D "C" lifters are OK but I would look at each one for obvious defects before taking them home. Woods directional are the best but pricey; HQ Black Ops are good but also pricey but not as pricey as the Woods units.

If you are careful, you may not break the cylinder base seal when removing the heads. Once removed however, you need to get some 1/2" PVC couplings and use the short head bolts to secure the cylinders. Just to easy to bump them or rotate the crank and push them off the case.

I have pulled down 88" engines with 35K to 50K miles and the hone marks are still visible and the piston coating still intact. However, a light hone (never use a ball hone) would be adviseable with new rings. Even though the original hone marks may be visible, the old rings have seated and removed the "rough" cross hatch of the original hone job. New rings will be difficult to seat.

 

'05 had valve seal problems. Replace with the updated seals. Are you sure the rocker box isn't leaking?

 

Thanks for all the replys and input guys!

Ill check out cyco gaskets, athough it seems it is going to take longer than just a weekend job... i think what ill do is a compression check. pull the cams and fig out what i have, what lift etc etc. then look into some new valve springs for the 03' heads & get some lifters. it seems like i would be better off just taking my time to take it apart and fig out exactly what im working with, then buy things such as head gaskets etc etc... i really like the idea of using 1/2" PVC couplers and the short head bolts to retain the jugs while the heads are off!

I guess ill decide if im going to pull the jugs & do new piston rings when i get to that point. as of now, im looking at waiting until january to do this as long as the bike keeps running well. in the mean time, ill make up a parts list and try to get as much as i can.

thanks again for all the input! ill report back when i start turning some wrenches!

Oh, and for the record, the oil is definatley coming from the head. i can wipe it off when i park the bike at night and then see fresh oil on it in the morning... i heard it may have been caused by someone over tightning the exhaust bolts, im not too sure about that though. there is definatley JB weld or something like that in the cooling fins, aluminum is NOT green when you scrape it with a screwdriver haha!