I wondered about that. Pretty straight forward repair, you can handle it. You'll just hafta re-adjust your pushrods. With th pushrod on the base of the cam (at it's lowest) adjust so that you can spin it with your fingers but there's no up and down play.

 

<p>Oh, and use clothespins or paperclips and a rubber band to keep the covers up out of your way.</p>
You'll probably have to remove the rear head to get the rocker box off, not sure about the front. It's been quite a few years. I've never used a torque wrench on an iron head. Always just tightened it down and gave the end of the wrench a good tap. Never an issue. You'll need the copper head gaskets and you may as well change the pushrod tube seals while you're there.

 

They'll probably work fine, but I'd just buy a complete top end gasket set. It'll run you less than $30.

 

I have to agree here , ironhead sportsters are a pain in the *** and for the novice it will make you talk dirty and throw things .

 

Nonsense. Me and my brother were chopping and rebuilding them in our teens in our dad's carport. You're two most important tools are common sense and patience. Jump in and learn, you can do it.

 

Sweet... Thanks for all the input and vote of confidence!

I will search for the top-end gasket set, then hopefully have them in next week - roll up the sleeves and get ready to dig into the engine.

Looking forward to learning how to keep this bike going strong for a while

 

Well...between the rocker box..and the heads...doing the heads isn't much more once you've done all the work to get the rockers off.

Forgot to add...you'll prolly want to get new rubber ferruls (spell?) for the oil lines 'tween your rocker box tops....on my Shovel it was 4 ferruls. I suppose some people re-use them..for about about 2 bucks a pop...why not get 4 more...heck while you're getting some why not pickup at least 8 so you're set with spares.

I also got new collars for the intake manifod...2 of them...front 'n rear. They're hard black rubber rings.

I can't speak for the Sporty...but I had to pull the tanks on my FLH..and then had to loosen the rocker box tops, pull the pushrods out...and then undo the head bolts to I could remove the heads. I can't remove the rocker boxes nor put them back on while the heads are still on the bike...literally not enough room under the frame on the FLH.

I got some pics of the job in my garage.

 

Don't forget to just try to tighten them up,before you go tearing it all apart.Sometimes that's all it takes.

 

Broke my cherry on a '79, I could push that bitch 2 miles in the rain anytime

 

TIME OUT!!!!

If your rocker covers are leaking, the first thing you should do is put a open end wrench on it and see if 1 or more of the bolts have vibrated loose. That is not uncommon.

Don't tear into your bike until you have tried all the simple things first.

Damn these guys will have you tearing down your top end...