Well as the post says, here is where I am at..


I will skip al the boring stuff.. I had the cases weld filled and drilled and steel time serts installed and welded in. I dont know the history of this case but I am going to go out on a limb and say it had to have been severely overheated because it is STILL pulling the studs (this time from the right case) I called the guy that did the machine work and he swears to me he has never seen this. Now I know these evo cases have had their issues but has anyone seen the studs continue to pull or am I just being held over the log and givin it right up the yin yang?


So now after splitting the cases on this thing 3 times this year I have decided that I will just suck it up and replace the god damn cases and "hopefully" be done with the nightmare I call my softail..


it has a stroker flywheel in it so the cases will need to be machined for clearance.. however the bore is still 3 5/8 so I dont need to over do it..

My question is has anyone here ever heard of this problem even after time serts and filling the case with aluminum and retapping it with new steel time serts?


also if I go aftermarket will S&& and these other reputable brands give me a stronger case that will withhold the higher compression and stroke?

97 softail 10 over bore yadda yadda yadda

 

I would call somebody who knew about cases very well.I would call Dan Baisley,Bob Woods,or Doc at HDMD.They can tell you what to do,or if you can repair what you have!!

 

I must admit I wouldn't bother fixing the existing cases, but look into getting replacements for them. Good quality after-market cases will be stronger and more suitable than factory ones. Also I don't think they will need machining, my stroker cases didn't. I also suggest finding a good indy to do your rebuild, so everything is set up just right.

 

Yeah one of the brothers that runs Highland Park Cycles is doing the work with/for me. We already had the cases "repaired" and after doing the heads (porting) when we went back to torque the cylinders it pulled out one side. they guy put the largest timesert into it and barely torqued to 16 lbs and started to turn.


I wanted to keep this motor HD but at this point and cost, i think I will go with a S&S case that is already machined for the stroker flywheel. I am tired of ****ing with this thing over and over and over without the confidence of riding anywhere outside if LA because I am worried its gonna **** the bed..

I just wanted to know if the aftermarket cases were in fact built better than factory cause I am tired of the BS.. Hopefully the DMV will let me keep it titled as a HD and not make it special construction.

 

I eventually went with a whole S&S motor in my Evo, so you should be fine with their cases! Best of luck getting yours back up and running.

 

You can put stock cases back on the engine, but you will probably have the same problem in a very short time. On stock cases if the spigot hole is bored off-center a little bit, then whe you bore the out for the larger cylinders you can have problems in a hurry.
I would go with aftermarket cases, they are usually a lot beefier and have extra support where you need them. We used STD for years, we even had 4 runs of 25 cases each machined to our specs in the late '90's. Unfortunately they are no longer in business, so now we use Ultima cases. The are resonably priced and good quality. Of the several we've built using these cases they all checked out fine. If you have any questions feel free to call me at 518 469-8426.
John Therrien

 

Defintley wouldn't reuse cases again, Ultima cases get the nod by a top knotch engine builder named John Sachs. S&S cases are battle tested havn't lost any quality through the corporate board penny pinching era and the founder of the 96" Evo, Delkron cases are bullit proof in big horse applications so I would get some shopping goggles on and look for a deal.
A direct answer is all 3 cases above are designd with more material in the failure prone areas and bases for today's big cubed engines.

 

Thats what I really needed to hear.. I just wish I had asked all of these questions earlier before splitting the cases for the 3rd time.. Coming from 12 years doing electrical and air conditioning at GM these vtwins have been a learning curve but none the less I'd rather mash down the highway with my drags wide open screaming F#@$ THE WORLD than drive some reliable honda piece of ****!! (although oddly enough when sitting on the side of the highway with a head gasket spit out of it wishing I had owned a honda)


I will start shopping around and looking at prices.. My last question would be when I get these new cases should i have them drilled for new steal timeserts or leave them alone?

 

Leave them alone, just assemble them carefully and correctly, make sure they are cleaned well. I would also reccomend one of their High Volume, High Pressure oil pumps to ensure longievity.Put a .054" bead of gray ultra silicone around the outside of the edge of the case to prevent leakage, any heavier and you will get a lot of silicone inside the crancase and that will cause problems. Hope this helps.

 

Yeah, I already installed a high volume S&S oil pump on it.. so we should be good there, I will make note of the silicone bead.. I needed to machine the factory cases for the flywheel to spin.. I think S&S offers cases that will clear the stroker flywheel already