A few months ago I was picking up some parts from a guy I connected with after placing a free ad in the local buy and sell looking for 62 police special parts. He had some stuff I needed, he's retired, been into Harleys most of his life and managed to amass a collection of parts and some pretty desirable bikes. So after a number of phone calls we seemed to hit it off so we met up and my eyes popped out of my head when I walked into his shop, it was scene right out of CANADIAN pickers. Knuckle, flathead and pan, thats all he has and never really got into the newer gen shovels.
Walking past his 46 knuckle in pieces I asked about the other bike he had on a stand, a 48 EL and asked if he would sell it as is. "No Im not sure what Im going to do with that" was the answer so I let it slide and focused on the 62 parts I needed. Since there was no shortage of parts needed for the 62 I had reason to call him and bugged him now and then about the 48. Then 2 weeks ago he relented and offered it to me because he's winding down the bike stuff and letting some things go and he liked that Im into the older iron, liked how I was doing the 62 and I picked it up today.
There are so many parts that come with the bike Ill just post a handful now and more as I unpack everything. There's a lot of 48 specific parts and very little repop stuff - some of the hardware is colony and the muffler is an old reproduction piece, he has the dress up chrome cover for it but I haven't pried that out of him just yet. As I go through the stuff you guys can pick it apart which will help me greatly and Ill point out what I know is wrong or not so great.
The not-so-great stuff I found....
I visited 3 times and looked it over each time learning more and he was forthcoming about it. He pointed out right away that the top of the speedo mount had been cut off which I understand was a thing back then. It had a piece welded back on rather than replacing the entire neck. Not ideal but for me not a deal breaker either as Im not tripping over 48 panheads everywhere I go. They did an okay job but the cut went right through the forging number and where the tanks hid the frame they didn't address the weld since it would be hidden once the bike was together. I was able to see forging numbers on the rear motor mount, axle clips and seat post forging which all point to 1948. The other details put it as a mid to late 48 frame based on the hump the upper motor mount has and the die numbers on the clips and rear motor mount. The mount is die number 4 meaning 1948 and the axle clips are die number 10 on the left and 7 on the right. Palmer says 5, 6 , 7, 8 for the die numbers on the axle clips BUT he also says not all die numbers are known and in 49 he lists 12 as the starting point for them. The sidecar loops I hadn't scraped off yet. I wasn't able to scrape away as a potential buyer since the frame was painted and ready as far as he was concerned so I could only go by the axle clips that were hard to read due to thick paint, the upper engine mount shape, some trust and cross my fingers.
So here it is!
Original seat pan, pogo without parting line, t-bar, boards, correct front end and bars.
The seller said the rear fender is NOS and I believe it and its 48 only based on the open harness channel, the short harness spring and the stamped harness channel on he the hinged part. If I wrong please correct me.
Correct dash and coil plus a spare coil wrapped in newspaper
I had two options on the speedo cable. One with the knurled nut at the speedo but damage to the outer casing or a later one with the hex nut but no casing damage. I chose the one with the hex nut which could be for a pan in the 50's. The rest looks correct for 48 though, the part you see.
Two possibilities on the air cleaner then the labels were another. I chose the stainless one with the black background service label but I have the option to exchange it for an OEM chrome one and whatever label I need to be correct.
Original outer primary, spare front fender bracket and an original horn that also has the correct chrome cover.
The bike is optioned out with the chrome package except the tail light is painted black. Its an OEM light with a reproduction red lens. Personally I wish nothing had been chromed because I would prefer the black rims, headlight and so on. So do I suck it up and chrome the tail light and be done with that or strip everything and make it all black? Doing the tail light is easier and the chrome on the rims and light is perfect. It would be a shame to go through that exercise to undo it all.
the oil pump has the original rotator - a factory bulletin says to remove it with the blank cover that was made available at that time
But I have followed if it still has it 70 years later and it still works I re use it - I do not know the reason they were looking to eliminate it but I have the paper work tells you to replace it
06-12-2020 | 07:22 PM
1948 EL basket case resto
