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S&S super E air filter bracket broken and tank clearance issues
........ 1982 FLH stock except for s&s super E carb .....Obviously i have done something wrong........a while ago the composite head gasket blew and i replaced it with a MLS, no problems with the gasket. Now i have noticed that the air cleaner bracket has broken and the top of air cleaner has been touching the tank, lucky for me it hasn't worn through the tank. So i have obviously stressed the bracket and I can work on that , but there seems to be very minimal clearance between the right hand tank and the rear head as well . Can i lift the tank as i tighten the 1/2 inch bolt at the rear of the tank or will doing this stress the tank as well. Or can i move the S&S manifold slightly down to stop the top of carb air cleaner hitting the tank without stuffing up any float bowl issues or intake issues?
damn thats disheartening...i bought the bike with the s&s setup. so i was in the dark about the notched cover. I guess i will let the tank sit where it wants and modify the cover (although the tank sits really close to the rear head)......they're expensive and outa stock...mmmm wonder why?
Yup , two ways to do this. One either notch the cover or buy it. Two is put a 1” spacer between the carb & manifold, then you have to make new support brackets. I’ve done both with no problems.
I have a 1984 FXEF that I put 5 gallon tanks on with an S&S Super E, with no clearance or stress issues by raising the tank in the rear slots. The "E" does not have a notched air filter and only the approx. 3/8" insulator block. It is a little tedious shimming the front bottom lugs on the tank is all, but it mounts stress free.
Whoa, that was an older pic showing the tank height; it has the carb support from the kit. Here is a more recent pic with the S&S support from the middle case bolt to the manifold. I never really had an issues with the other support bracket, but think the center one is a better option.
Mounting a set of split tanks is an art on these bikes. Getting them level with each other front to rear, side to side and getting proper clearance is the key.
Spacers are used at the rear and bottom front to achieve the correct posture as well as pulling the rear up and using the entire bracket hole diameter.
I have seen some pretty ugly tank mounting.
It must depend on the bike -- and the tank -- because my '80 FLHS just barely clears with slots cut to the max -- and my spare FXWG tanks (which are supposed to be the same) won't clear the air cleaner no matter what. I have been fighting this today... Small world. I figured I would notch the cover and now I see that's legit.
Raising the tank means you gotta raise the dash guts with spacers.
fit a Superglide 'peanut' tank, then no clearence issues or need to shim or cut anything...........and only 1/10 of a gallon smaller at 3.4 gallons instead of the 3.5 gallons of the smaller fatbobs.........
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S&S super E air filter bracket broken and tank clearance issues
