Hey folks, Got a couple questions for you. I've had about a dozen bikes, but this is my first Harley. '74-74" in a factory wishbone rigid. 47 degrees rake 6" over narrow glide. Got it as a basket 2 years ago. Just now getting it close to going on the road.

Main problem now is pushrod covers pour oil out @ the bottom and a little comes out the middle. The rear cover actually spurts like an artery at the bottom. I did all the top end gaskets and the pushrod cover gaskets that came with were all cork. Top bottom, and middle. I was very careful to be sure they were all seated correctly.

Any tricks for getting exhaust gaskets to seal would be appreciated.

I also need a reccomendation as to where to purchase OE parts online. Currently in need of a rocker shaft nut w/copper washer.

Thanks, JD

 

Make sure you've got the right corks or orings for the tubes and the lifter blocks, later model style won't take corks . You'll have to find pictures , no way I can describe in print . Do the the tubes have the metal ring that goes on top the spring were it hits the corks ? Also check the pushrods themselves are not hitting the tubes the cheapy fat alum. one had a bad habit doing that .

Exhaust port use Permatex Ultra gray . clean as much black off the pipe & inside the port as you can and smear a light coat in the port and on the flange with the gasket . Bolt everything down solid pay close attention to the back pipe mounts if they are flexed or a bit wobbly pipes are going to come loose . Clean the extra off around the port and let the bike sit overnight . I've had the bolt come out of the head before and this stuff still hold the pipe on the bike if done right .

Try J&P they will have those , a lot of places don't anymore .

 

Yeah, ya might need to make sure ya got the right gaskets for the model tubes and tappet guide (lifter block). You will need a model specific service AND parts manual. Money worth spending.
But, without knowing more about what has been done to the engine, it sounds, to me, the oil is not going where it should. If the gaskets are correct, you may have an oil passage blocked and the oil will find any weak spot to go. The oil passage to the heads could give the same results, if blocked, and if the oil lines to the tank are not correct you can get similar leaks. It would be to your benefit if you could find somebody close by that "really knows" what they are doing to help you sort it all out. I can't tell you how many times I've had to fix what some 'expert' has screwed-up on a bike, so you need to ask around about who has more ride time than fix time to sort out the real mechanics. You will get good advise here, but it will help to have an experianced hand in person. When you find that guy, pick his brain for info. If he isn't after the money, he won't mind.

I liked the EVO ex gaskets the woven type, they are hard to get on a shovel pipe but conform well after heating up.

 

Twizted, Got the rocker shaft washer and nut from J&P. Along with a set of blue silicone tube seals. Will see if that seals her up.
I do have the factory manual, but did not realize the newer models didn't take corks.
Will try the Ultra Grey on the exhaust. Old timer I got the basket from said to do the same thing but with JB weld!? Said it wouldn't stick to the Aluminum head. I kinda thought maybe he killed to many braincells and wasn't remembrin right. Yall ever heard of that one?

Krutch, I don't think there is a problem with oil flow at the moment. Top end anyhow gets a ton of oil. So much that oil starts filling the pushrod covers when reved above idle which is when it really starts pouring out. But I am pretty sure this is just due to the cork seals. Is there anything bottom end wise that would cause oil to pour out the pushrod tubes? It's not blowing out under air pressure, just leaking rapidly. I did pull the oil return line from the tank and kicked the bike over (with the sparkplugs out) until I verified the oil was making it all the way home before starting it up. Will keep an eye on things though, hopefully the silicone seals do the trick.

 

AVOID the JB weld thats epoxy glue and can break stuff taking it apart , I've used it to put a chunk back onto a head that broke off around a rocker box stud as an emergency fix on a road trip once it damn well will stick to aluminum real well . Head ran 2 years like that before I fixed it proper .

Make sure the oil return holes in the lifter blocks are not blocked , you can run a wire down through without taking them off . I have drilled those holes out to a bigger size before on aftermarket blocks for better drainage . This can be a problem with the o-ring blocks when corks are used these holes can be covered by the cork . If you still feel your getting too much oil up top PM me I'll walk you through a fix for it , takes some soldering and really small drill bits but can be done fairly easy without ripping things apart .

 

Thinking that with pushrods filling up?....If you are using hydraulics did you make sure you put the tappets into the guide so that the flat surfaces (with the oil holes) on tappets are toward center of the guide; if not engine oil will not feed across and exhaust unit cannot fill with oil.

 

Nice catch wasn't thinking about that .

 

Parts due to come in thursday. Will open it up this weekend and post back with what I find. Thanks for all the advice will check it all out.

 

OK, The new rocker shaft sealing washer, and silicone pushrod tube seals stopped the oil leak. Also had a kink in the oil return line which I took care of.

I am still having a driveabiity issue in that once the bike is hot it does not want to restart. Sometimes I have to roll it down a hill as it is impossible to kick it to life. Even getting it rolling down hill in 2nd it coughs and sputters a few times before catching. Any ideas on that?