Down side to that is installation , rough torquing the rocker boxes down with those nuts missing . S&S stuff always made for tight friggen fit on some engines had fit's with a few . I break all the motor mounts & bolts out anyway when the heads come off on shovels anymore as I do the old school engine seating & shimming to make sure it's level and true with all the mounts the align& shim the trans & primary , you'd be surprised how much vibration that can cut out , about an hours extra work but well worth it in shake reduction .

 

edit dup post ghost struck again

 

On the rough torquing...

What I was thinking for re-installation was to torque everything down as the manual recommends and then pull those outside first three nuts off for head re-installation...

Since they are also the easiest to get to after the head is installed, I do not foresee any issues there...

what do you think?

Also is the engine seating & shimming you mention covered in the OEM HD manual? Not sure I have seen that or not...

 

Do some digging on line the old panhead manuals had the procedure in print , they dropped it with shovels . Can't find it PM I'll write something up for you it's worth doing , I've had the front motor mounts off as much as .030" on one side and the other was .010 /

Basicaly what you do it loosen all the mount bolts and top motor mount , inner primary loose and the trans studs loosened . Torque the rear motor mount bolts to spec then using a feeler gauge check under the front to frame fit , can't get a gauge in just install and torque those , if you have a gap cut the right thickness shim stock to size and install & torque the you do the top mount I tighten the rear first to see how much the motor mount is off and either bend to sit nice flush or washer it now do the same thing with the mount to frame . You just make sure everything is tight and nice fitting so nothing is pulled down when tightened , that causes a lot of transient vibration .

Next bolt & torque the primary to the motor and then the tranny , go up under with the feeler gauges and shim the trans to the mounting plate . I've had these off by a good 1/16th of an inch easy . Do all this and you'll be surprised how much shake goes away , oil leaks stop and the drive train just works better overall .

Ever see all the old cracked and busted inner primaries at swaps ? never saw the panheads with those issue just the shovels when the factory quit doing the bed & set on the line .

 

Great info! I have it down this far may as well check this too while I am at it...

much obliged.

 

Should I change both heads with matching numbered heads or is it OK to just change the rear head if nothing is wrong with the front head?

 

You should do heads in a set, one at time always leads to problems like one cylinder running weaker than the other, oil leaks or burning, ect.

 

thank you TwiZted Biker, I figure as much but wanted to hear from someone with some experience on the subject.