I am in the process of rebuilding a 1966 xlch.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; I have the top of the engine off (jugs, pistons, heads, rockerboxes...etc) and they are in to the specialtist in town.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; At first glance the jugs look fine to me, however the front piston is scored.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; I did a leak down test and it will need a valve job.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; I was originally thinking that I would need&nbsp\\;\\\\\\;to get new pistons/rings, and a valve job.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; I just got a call back from the&nbsp\\;\\\\\\;shop, and they said that it was going to cost 900.00 bucks (without paint).&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; He&nbsp\\;\\\\\\;said that the jugs have already been bored out .70 over and he can't go anyfuther so I would need to get&nbsp\\;\\\\\\;new ones.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; I have a couple of questions.
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1. Can't I reuse the jugs and not have them bored out since they seem fine?&nbsp\\;\\\\\\; I would still get everything else new, but I wasn't planning on spending&nbsp\\;\\\\\\;900 on the top of the engine.&nbsp\\;\\\\\\;
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2. Does anyone have a set of jugs that they would be willing to sell to me for a reasonable price?
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3. Does 900 bucks seem about right for parts and labor to accomplish all that I described above?
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thanks,
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calabeast

 

JP and sells the pistons/jugs/rings kit for $425. part number 431-276. 900cc, 9:1 compression. I would recomend buy new parts, rather then rebuild with the older stuff.

 

Thanks for the J &amp\\; P info and parts number.&nbsp\\; Do you know if it is possible to reuse my existing Jugs, and just get new Pistons?&nbsp\\; I examined them very close (without a micrometer) and they seemed good.&nbsp\\; Is it a bad idea to just reuse them as is? If I could save myself 250 bucks I would be much closer to the budget I alotted to get this portion of the bike done.
&nbsp\\;
thanks,
&nbsp\\;
Calabeast

 

The piston is scuffed. That means the bore is not in good shape either, even though it may look good to the naked eye. The way this is measured is to measure the top of the bore (where the most wear occurs) and measure the bottom of the bore (where there is no wear) where the piston does not reach. The difference between these measurements is what tells you if the bores are good or not, and it sounds like yours are worn too much.
&nbsp\\;Being at .070 oversize is the big drawback to someone wanting to bore out an engine in their quest for more power. It just does not work.

&nbsp\\;Now, you have several choices.......

&nbsp\\;You may want to talk to the shop about getting your cylinders re-sleeved. A good shop that does re-boring can do this. That will give you the original cylinders with a brand new standard size bore. That would be my first choice, depending on the cost and if the shop will guarantee their work. Any shop that will not is one to be passed on by to a shop that will guarantee the work.

&nbsp\\;You can try to find a set of used cylinders that have been re-bored to .020 over, or less. I say less because you do not know what it will take to clean up the bore. Obviously, if the cylinders have a gouge down the bore they will be useless, so be carefull when you buy. That would be my second choice.

&nbsp\\;My absolute third choice (and reluctant at that) is to purchase new cylinders. These cylinders are certain to have been cast somewhere in Asia and are going to be of doubtful quality. That is almost a given. I really think the better way to go is to find a good used set of cylinders that have some re-bore life left in them. Re-bore only to the minum size to allow cleanup and then buy pistons to fit.
&nbsp\\;(Actually the exercise is to measure the cylinders first to determine wear and re-bore needed, then buy the pistons and have your re-bore man fit each piston to each cylinder.)
&nbsp\\;Each piston is going to be a different dimension and the re-bore shop will use a certain piston for a certain cylinder and mark them as such for you. Good luck on what you decide to do.......pg

 

It's a bit of a crap shoot, of course, but you can find good jugs on ebay for far less than the price for new jugsI would say $150 will buy a decent set of jugs if your patient and ask questions.

Nine-hundred seems high to me.&nbsp\\; If you can do the assembly yourself, and it's really simple, I would say six-hundred is more like it, but then I've heard members quote crazy prices.

 

Thanks all, and sorry for the&nbsp\\;delayed response.&nbsp\\; I have taken your advice piniongear and Moon wolf.&nbsp\\; I found front and rear cylinders that are only .020 over stock.&nbsp\\; I had to be extremely patient, but I finally found them for 125 bucks including priority mail shipping.&nbsp\\; I should have them after the 4th of july weekend.&nbsp\\; www.Old-stf.com&nbsp\\;seemed to have the best deal on cylinders. &nbsp\\;Rick the technical expert&nbsp\\;will listen to what you want and take the extra time to make sure you get what your looking for.
&nbsp\\;
My next challenge is going to be the rocker boxes and valve job.&nbsp\\; I was told that Weaver Auto Parts has a machine shop in town and they will work on old ironheads.&nbsp\\; How much can I expect to pay for re-seating the valves and having everything from the cylinder head up redone? Has anyone used Weaver Auto Parts&nbsp\\;to do machine shop work?
&nbsp\\;
Does anyone have a oil line diagram(s) for a 1966 xlch 12v with magneto.&nbsp\\; For some reason the parts catalog doesn't have the same exact oil tank that is currently on my bike.&nbsp\\; The shape is similar, but the hoses definitley do not exit the same places. &nbsp\\;I am a bit confused as to which line is oil supply and oil return and I seem to have an extra opening&nbsp\\;near the top/back&nbsp\\;of the tank.&nbsp\\;
&nbsp\\;
thanks again,
&nbsp\\;
Calabeast

 

Calabeast......
Good deal on getting the cylinders. You made a good choice there.
Now, what kind of oil tank do you have?
I have included an illustration out of an old parts catalog that shows 2 types of old oil tanks.
The side mount (shown on the left) was found on the electric starter XLH of days gone by and the center mount tank (shown on the right) was the tank that came on the very early XLCH having a kick starter and the magneto.
The other type of tank is the center mount square tank as shown on my Sportster in the signature photo.
Let me know which tank you have, and I will try to tell you which line goes where.
Any of the tanks are going to have three connections.......the oil feed will be the low connection and the oil return and vent will be the other two.
On some tanks the oil return and vent line went into the bottom of the tank, but if you look inside the tank you will see that each connection has a standpipe being open at the top and ending about an inch or so below the roof of the tank. The 'standpipe connections' can be eith the return or the vent.....your choice. The bottom connection with no standpipe is the oil feed.
The info in the factory manuals has always been very sketchy with regards to how to connect it up. Same goes for the oil connections on the engine side of things.
I think we can set you straight with all of that if you just tell us which tank you have.
Did you also need a wiring diagram for a 1966 XLCH with magneto?.............pg

edit note: Make certain you have bought a set of 900cc cylinders and not the far more common 1000cc jugs. The 900s are going to measure 3 inches across the bore (plus that .020 over) and a 1000cc jug is going to measure 3.188 inches (plus that .020 over) The 1000 jugs will not work on your 900 cases.

[IMG]local://upfiles/8331/CF7B086386F44C9BBC4D48574FF311D9.jpg[/IMG]

 

I am certain that they are for the 900CC.&nbsp\\; Your right, they are much less common then the 1000cc.&nbsp\\; I believe that they were both cast in 1961 (according to the stamps on them).&nbsp\\;
&nbsp\\;
My oil tank looks very similar to yours (nice machine by the way).&nbsp\\; The only difference is that my fill hole is on front side of the tank mirrored from the flange in the middle.&nbsp\\; It is essentially the same shape, and sits in the same spot in the frame.&nbsp\\; I'll get some picturs on here soon.&nbsp\\; (Damn Treo isn't playing nice with my PC).
&nbsp\\;
My oil tank has (4) hose connectors comming out of it.&nbsp\\; (2) 1/2" hoses and (2) 1/4" hoses.&nbsp\\; I assume that the (2) 1/2" hoses are for the supply and return oil to the engine?&nbsp\\; (1) 1/4 hose is for the vent?&nbsp\\; (1) 1/4" hose is for the chain oiler?&nbsp\\;
&nbsp\\;
I am also confused as to why there&nbsp\\;are (3) hose connectors sticking up from the engine?&nbsp\\; (2) of the (3) are 1/2" and the other one is 1/4"....Where does this 1/4" hose go? As I mentioned previously, I have the parts catalog and the owners manual and (so far) my oil tank is not represented in either.&nbsp\\; My Bendix Carb was also not represented.&nbsp\\; How many different options could&nbsp\\;HD have possibly&nbsp\\;distributed in 1966?
&nbsp\\;
Thanks for all the help.
&nbsp\\;
Calabeast&nbsp\\;

 

Not sure if this will work, but I have attempted to post some pics.
&nbsp\\;
&nbsp\\;
http://pictures.sprintpcs.com/share....tate=RETRIEVED

 

Pics did not load. Try again. I am waiting to see some pics of your oil tank.......pg