Hey fellas,
I've worked as an automotive mechanic and have worked on my and friends motorcycles for years. But I've never been into the bottom end of any motor. Someday I'd like to build a motor for my street glide. I was wondering if anyone could recommend any engine building books for twin cams. Thanks in advance.

 

www.fixmyhog.com

 

More specifically. I'm looking for a performance oriented book that goes into great detail of how to address the weaknesses of the original design "flywheels, oiling, cam chest", how to build power, cam choice, compression choice for application, checking clearances, and design changes over the years. I've owned books like this for small block fords and vw engines and have seen them for Harley's. Just wondering what a good one is. Thank again.

 

Honestly, I think most of that is covered on the forum.

Cam choices will vary with personal opinions.... But you'll see some appear more often than others....

Weaknesses - I think you can get a lot of information on...

 

Donny Petersen's Unauthorized Technical Guide to Harley Davidson, 1936 to Present (multiple volumes)

Anything by D. William Denish - out of print, hard to find but worth it.

 

as far as TC F/W`s,your not going to be able to do anything yourself (have a properly equipt shop plug & weld it or use S&S).as far as choosing cams,if your going to be building HP HD motors,you better already know how to read cam specs.same goes for matching compression to cams & headwork.the HP books that where around will give general idea`s,but wont address what experience will

 

An interesting question. I haven't seen any such Harley books myself, those that claim to 'cover' tuning that I have seen are pretty superficial. As far as building a bottom end goes there are two choices, either spend a lot of money modifying a stock one, or buy S&S. In fact for a high HP engine start with an S&S. If you want more than a 124" can provide (160+) they offer a 143" for the desperate!

 

That was the answer gents.
As far as crank re-building, cylinder boring, cylinder head machining tooling, etc, etc, etc, with all the other specialty tools...........your going to have to dig deep........and grab a heap........then as Kirby said........experience.
Scott

 

Thanks. I'll look into it.