Getting ready to replace the cylinder base gaskets in my 93 softail. These have been seeping for the past couple of years and I want to get this fixed before the next season. I have never pulled a motor apart besides dirt bike 2strokes back in my racing days. My question to you guys that have been into the motor before. What level of difficultly is this? I will be getting the manual and do all the reading ect. And I have a handy lift table to make it a bit easier on the back. What if any will be the difficult part of this job? I know that many of these evo's in this year leak here and what I have read are known for this problem. Are there certain gaskets that are made to eliminate this problem? And any suggestions /feedback here from the ones that know would be greatly appreciated.

 

I did it and I am not a mechanic by any means. I put James base gaskets on my 89" S&S stroker and haveen't had any problems since.

 

Had my base gaskets replaced last year when I had stage II done to my '96 UC. The wrench who did the work used a metal gasket (rather than the stock paper gasket) that does not get beaten to a pulp every time the engine warms up. Having just pulled the front cylinder head myself for the first time last week, I would look at this as a very doable project for someone with at least basic knowledge of engine work. The biggest prior experience I've had was replacing the head on my brother's 350 chevy. Remember, it's a learning experience, so be prepared to do some things more than once to be sure they're right. Keep EVERYTHING clean and LABELED. You'll have lots of parts lying around by the time you get everything disassembled. I suggest using sandwich bags for small pieces and labeling the bags. With a bike the age of yours, consider new rings and lifters as a minimum if they have not been replaced in recent years. Buy new gaskets and seals for everything you take apart. Line up a friend with some heavier experience to at least bounce things off of if you get stumped. And let the guys here help whenever you have questions. Good luck.

 

Keep us up to speed as you progress Spidie!! Jer

 

No clue how many miles on the EVO, - but from the jobs I've done on mine and other's EVO's - I'd reccomend HD OEM gaskets for the rocker boxes (including the umbrella gaskets in the heads) and James gaskets for the heads and Base gaskets, a light coat of Hylomar on the James gaskets keeps the leaks away very well.

Get the parts manual for the bike along with the service manual and read it all. Take some notes and tackle the Job.

If you have not already done so, it's also worth cutting out the pushrods and replacing them with timesaver pushrods, replace the lifters and the INA cam bearing with a Torrington B-138 cam bearing. The new lifters and cam bearing along with the "reseal" job should keep you from having to dig back into it for another 15 yrs.