Hi guys just a little info about what I am doing and why. My son 9 days after is 42 birthday died on the job with a heart attack so I told myself that I was going to finish his bike that he started on in 2001. Pats of this build was on his 49 titled bike but the frame was shot and the cases were to the point of not worth fixing.

His motor is a pan bottom he had told me but now has new Delkron cases with 84 or under shovelheads.

After pulling the heads for some repair work on the exhaust studs and glad I did because we found more problems that had to be fixed so now with them back on its time to adjust the pushrods. What a friend of mine has told me after looking at the lifters they have been converted using the solid insert but they were hyd at some point? The pushrods are the ones that are aluminum and I guess they are the stock type. Yea I know you are not liking that very much and not sure if I do either! I might end up doing it correct latter but want to hear it run so we will know if there are any more problems.
I watched the 9min S&S video on adjusting them and tried my best to follow it. Well that was a lot of fun. I think I ended up with one that seemed to be correct so I used my old head and just went back to the way I adjusted reg auto motors at least to a point. His bike is a belt drive so I have the big nut that is easy to get to and use a ratchet on. The rear chain is not installed to use the wheel turning method.
Here is what I did. I would turn the crank till the lifter was at its lowest point and just before it would start to rise. Then I would adjust and check to make sure there was no up and down play and maybe just very little movement side to side ( I read that some where so not sure about it?) so that is where I need you guys to tell me what you do or think. It takes about a week before anyone can drop by and help me and check what I have done so I want to do all I can to get it right.

I still have a way to go even when I get this done. I have to do the wiring and put the parts back on the bike before I can fire it up. Guys ask me if I am going to ride it or sell it and all I can tell them is if my 66 year old body can handle it i will ride it. I have not ridden a bike on the streets since the 60's and it was no way a bike like this but I can still balance one and ride a sporty around the drive way at least

Well I know this is a long read but just wanted all of you to know what is going on and I being lost as I can be because it is a bike and not a car/truck. I hold my own I them.

 

Welcome aboard Duke. Sorry to hear about your son, I can only imagine how tough that is to go through.

I also have solid inserts, and it sounds like you're doing it right. You want the tappet on the base circle of the cam (valve closed). You're correct about no up and down play. There really shouldn't be any side to side play, I don't think. That might indicate some wear on the pushrod or lifter cup. Unless you mean the tappet is moving side to side in it's bore. If so, it's definitely worn and you should consider a new lifter setup.

When the tappet is on the base circle, you want to be able to spin the pushrod between your thumb and forefinger, but no up and down movement at all.

By the way, if you're not totally sure they are solids, you may want to post a pic of them. Hydraulic adjustment is completely different.

 

The friend of mine that has a few pans pulled one out and told me what it was. Now the big question is that I hope the rest of it was installed correct?? I have read so much lately that I am going brain dead!!!!!!! When you do the change from hyd to solid like you did and he did do you have to do any thing to the piece it slides into? The part with the roller on it. Or am I thinking of when putting in the hyd ones you have to make sure the little oil hole is in the right place so oil will keep it correct?

I will double check the side to side and make sure it is not the lifter and then if it is ok then I will snug it just a tad more like I thought it should be. Every body has their own ways of doing things I guess! But to me if you have movement then when they get hot you also might just have more noise.

I have found at least 2 cams laying around and then the one in the motor. I am going to look at his receipts and see what he might have bought last. Then I might just know what he was after on this build. I have heard it run before like in 2000 or 01 and it really sounded great and way better than ones I had heard in the past. He was always the type to get the most out of a motor just like me but there is a limit to what can be done with out other changes to make it all work. Well I can't ask him now for sure.

 

I posted a picture of it so you guys could see what he was building but I guess it has to be aproved before it shows? Or did I do it wrong?

 

I don't see the pic, but if you've got a friend with a few panheads, he probably knows what he's talking about. If you own a panhead, not only are you very lucky, but you probably have to learn to do all your work yourself. Doubt too many shops do it anymore outside of a few indys.

I bought mine with the solid inserts in it already, so I didn't put them in myself. But I think you just pull the hydraulic lifters out of the tappets (the part with the roller that you mentioned) and put the solid inserts in. You also have to use different pushrods that are non-adjustable, but those are probably already there. On my solid inserts, the adjustment is on the lifter, not the pushrods. I think they're all that way but someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

There also are solid cams and hydraulic cams, so that should have been changed too when the inserts were done. If you ever go back to hydraulic, you'll want to put a hydraulic cam in as the ramps on the solid cams are too aggressive for hydraulics.

I hope what I'm about to say about the oiling will be qualified by someone else, as I have never done the conversion to solids myself. But from what I've read, you don't HAVE to block off the oiling holes in the tappets. But many do because the pushrod tubes will fill with oil since there's nowhere for it to go because the solid lifters and rods do not have oil holes to the top end.

You are right about movement and noise. When I bought my bike, one lifter was so out of whack that it had probably 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch of up and down play. Sounded like a hammer whacking away at my rocker boxes. The other three were too tight. Got them all adjusted and it sounds much better. Still noisy though, that's just how solids are.

 

I looked at my post with the picture and I see it has been viewed 9 times but I can't see it either + I used it as my avatar one also and it is not showing up??? I am at a lose on that one.

I wish I knew more of what my son either did or what and how his bike came when he first bought the one he was riding. I can see receipts of work he had done over a few years but have to go back and look when he bought the cases and then what he bought around the same time. I am almost sure he road it for a while with the new cases. He also went with a belt drive 3" and the electric starter kit and also left the kick start on it. I have a bunch of parts and I guess it all came from his bike. He also bought a used 4 speed case. Needless to say there was a lot of money spent on it over the years. But he was single and stayed that way and made great money and even more more when he and I teemed up together. I was a contract telephone splicer and then went to catv upgrade splicing till all ended around 07 and I gave it up and retired. I do powder coating now for a living and that means a lot of bike parts come in.

I am going to try to upload some more pictures and see what happens? Maybe a mod will fix it for me I hope?

 

This should let you know what he was building. If this does not work then maybe admin/IT will have to fix it? It has happend before I just read.

 

I see them now. That looks like it will be a cool bike when you get it going. You might want to check out http://www.shovelhead.us. They have a lot of pretty sharp shovel guys over there too.

 

I will take a look see. I might need all the sharp I can get before its over with.

Thanks

I can't see the pictures yet and if I click on one then its says I am not allowed to do that.

 

I think you have to have 5 posts and have been a member for 5 days before you can see pics or send a PM. Good luck with the project!