so i've been having problems all season with my engine- kept getting oil into combustion chamber... had the engine apart 4 times this season trying to figure it out....then, there it was- cylinder studs ... all stripped out

when i rebuilt it the first time i flipped the cylinder studs so the shoulder was down...i don't know what made me think i could do this, but i did....and what i thought was tightening, was actually galling and stripping....so each time i reassembled engine, i was getting false torque readings

anyway, i contemplated a new case.... resigned to tearing engine completely down in order to get old case to harley for a new one....and then it occurred to me:

I'm gonna pull all the studs, retap them with Time-Serts, and will be fine.... so, I did it

question i have now is, since i split the cases do I have to pull the flywheel from the left half and have it trued?

 

As long as you didn't drop the flywheel or hit it with anything its fine, just chuck it all back together again.

 

hey spanner....thanks for the info!

i surely didn't drop it or hit it with anything....but after splitting the cases, i did lay the left half over a five gallon bucket for a few days to let the excess oil drain

 

All good mate, it takes a hefty whack to knock the crank out of line once its been assembled and fully torqued up.

 

okay, thanks so much!.... i feel confident moving forward

cheers!

 

The Time-Serts work great. Just went through this recently when one of the studs pulled out of the case on my bike, causing the head gasket to go. No problems since I repaired it with the Time=Sert and reassembled. Good luck.

 

hey 95....yeah, that's what kept happening....i could not for the life figure out what was causing the heads to loosen....and then when i went to tear her down for the 3rd time, i backed out a stud....threads were all galled

i fixed it with a time sert....and it was fine....but then tightening heads down, i lost the threads on the next one....then it finally dawned on me what was happening

finally resigned myself and tore the whole thing down with the intent of just getting a new case.... but when i split them to remove the flywheel, i figured i mine as well just pull all the studs and do the job, proper....i could see what i was doing, and i had room to work!

anyway, case has all new threads ....so gonna reassemble case and install new studs

 

You should have years of trouble free riding once it's back together. I've put about 6,000 miles on mine since I put it back together and she hasn't missed a beat yet. These are some tough old motors.

 

i hope so....while i had her down i also lapped the cylinder bases and bought a pigtail kit... fix that base leak once and for all, too

 

Yep, I had the base gasket leaks too. I went with the cometic metal gaskets. So far so good.