Going to bloack out my rocker boxes,the service manual says to only dissassembly at a time due to the fact that one will still be loaded when the other is not. What is the solution?

 

Change out to adjustable pushrods.

 

Put the bike on a lift with the rear tire in the air, pull the spark plugs, take the upper rocker off, put it in 5th gear and roll the rear tire until both valves are closed, remove the rockers and lower rocker cover, reinstall and repeat.

 

Once you take one off (at TDC, on compression stroke), just roll the other cylinder to the same spot and then take it apart.

 

I was thinking that was the way to do it Lonewolf,but it sounds easier the way that Energy-Dude suggested it,and it seems less likely that I will screw things up too.
Thanks Guys,anymore info would be great too,maybe tricks or tips the manual don't give?

 

once you get the rocker covers off, you'll see how simple the whole procedure is. just be sure to keep your service manual handy along with the loctite, anti seize, and torque wrench. energy dude's way of doing it is the easiest. there's no reason to swap to adjustable pushrods unless you just like throwing money away. follow the procedures in the service manual and you'll be fine. rolling the rear tire to where the valves are closed works great. that means that the pushrods and rockers aren't under pressure from the valve springs.

 

Thanks emwolb,I appreciate the extra insight. I have been a mechanic my whole life,worked on everything from washing machines,cars,and automated industial machinery,but never had Harley motor tore down this far. I am however confident that with the service manual I should be ok. I just wanted to get a few tricks of tips that the service manual doen't provide. Is always seems that every project has a trick to it that makes things alot easier. Again,I do appreciate all the info I can get.
Thanks again guys

 

Not much to add to this except tear down is easy compared to other projects. Just make sure both lifters are down on the cylinder you are working on. Nothing fancy is needed on this one. One last thing. There are a few tight spot bolts to get to. Just use the tools you have in the toolbox. I had to switch between a few tools, but once you start tearing down you will see exactly what you have to do.

 

Like stated above, the tear down is not bad at all. Where I had troubles was trying to torque the bolts right underneath the frame. I finally did it by feel of the tightness of the other bolts. I even bought crows feet and that didn't work.

I'm about to do it again on the Ultra so what do you need to correctly torque those bolts?

 

Snap On torque adapters. I use 1/2" and 7/16".