Well there's your problem.

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 11:13 am

Just winter wandering. I'm just now getting too a motor from an Ironhead Harley I bought from a fellow Ohio'n about a year and a half ago. This is the time of year for those winter projects, you know. It came with the understanding, "There's something really wrong in there." I finally got the crank out and the first flywheel off and found this. My bud and I both had a laugh. I already have parts coming and I hope to be building a crank in a week or so. I plan on riding this to the Leesville Bike Blessing early summer. Double thumbs up.
Gobbler

jeepnik · Post by **jeepnik** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 11:58 am

As my dad would say when he came across things like this "Yep, it's broke". No need for more explanation.

Pete44ru · Post by **Pete44ru** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 12:11 pm

.

WOW - That's a rare wobble-crank motor ! .

.

Blaine · Post by **Blaine** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 12:16 pm

Don't tell Harley...they will send you a bill for a custom part....

Nath · Post by **Nath** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 1:01 pm

Uber collapse.
Check the oil ways!

Malamute · Post by **Malamute** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 1:27 pm

Aw shoot, I bet you can re-use those bearing cages.

The comment about checking oil passages is a good one. Its possible that happened from an oil pump key shearing, and either starving the motor for oil, and/or a piece of metal from the key or oil pump moving around and clogging an oil passage. The original offending piece could have come from elsewhere also, and seized the oil pump or blocked a passage.

The idiot light for oil pressure is a good idea, or a gauge that you can see easily.

AJMD429 · Post by **AJMD429** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 1:47 pm

Ah, just spray it good with some WD-40, then put a bunch of white lithium grease in it, and it'll be fine...

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 3:41 pm

Roger on the passages. I'll be detailing every part that goes back on, getting all the little sparkly pieces out. It tore up the lifter blocks and lifters and one cam bearing. What started losing pieces first is anybody's guess. The oil pump is in surprisingly in good shape as well as the cams and bushings and no sheared keys. The oil filter was doing it's job. So far it seams that what died, died hard, but a lot is good.
Gobbler

jeepnik · Post by **jeepnik** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 5:19 pm

AJMD429 wrote:Ah, just spray it good with some WD-40, then put a bunch of white lithium grease in it, and it'll be fine...

Ok, now you are scaring me. I'd hate to hear what you tell patients

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 5:38 pm

jeepnik wrote:
AJMD429 wrote:Ah, just spray it good with some WD-40, then put a bunch of white lithium grease in it, and it'll be fine...
Ok, now you are scaring me. I'd hate to hear what you tell patients

Like I tell my wife... "... whatever's wrong ain't gonna heal itself... "

markinalpine · Post by **markinalpine** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 5:42 pm

jeepnik wrote:
AJMD429 wrote:Ah, just spray it good with some WD-40, then put a bunch of white lithium grease in it, and it'll be fine...
Ok, now you are scaring me. I'd hate to hear what you tell patients

If you ever prescribe suppositories, please make sure your patient knows where to put them!

Mark

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 5:54 pm

markinalpine wrote:
jeepnik wrote:
AJMD429 wrote:Ah, just spray it good with some WD-40, then put a bunch of white lithium grease in it, and it'll be fine...
Ok, now you are scaring me. I'd hate to hear what you tell patients
If you ever prescribe suppositories, please make sure your patient knows where to put them!

Mark

That's what I call those cartridge guns my fellow cowboy shooters use... 'suppository' shooters... I tell 'em "...real men prefer loading in the front!"

vancelw · Post by **vancelw** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 5:58 pm

Griff wrote:
markinalpine wrote:
jeepnik wrote:
AJMD429 wrote:Ah, just spray it good with some WD-40, then put a bunch of white lithium grease in it, and it'll be fine...
Ok, now you are scaring me. I'd hate to hear what you tell patients
If you ever prescribe suppositories, please make sure your patient knows where to put them!

Mark
That's what I call those cartridge guns my fellow cowboy shooters use... 'suppository' shooters... I tell 'em "...real men prefer loading in the front!"

And THAT, my friends, is called, "Thread drift."

Sixgun · Post by **Sixgun** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 6:37 pm

Man....I'm glad I don't play with the old bikes......for real....they infatuate me....anything old does.............and I might have a small drop of wisdom for ya Gobbler.......not that you need any from a gun crank...........back in the old days, we would take up those tolerances with STP and 90 weight gear oil.....

----6

Blaine · Post by **Blaine** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 8:05 pm

Sixgun wrote:Man....I'm glad I don't play with the old bikes......for real....they infatuate me....anything old does.............and I might have a small drop of wisdom for ya Gobbler.......not that you need any from a gun crank...........back in the old days, we would take up those tolerances with STP and 90 weight gear oil..... ----6

So...that's why the Italian tanks never fired a shot??

GonnePhishin · Post by **GonnePhishin** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 10:32 pm

Yeah, but they used olive oil.

FWiedner · Post by **FWiedner** » Sun Mar 01, 2015 11:01 pm

Sixgun wrote:Man....I'm glad I don't play with the old bikes......for real....they infatuate me....anything old does.............and I might have a small drop of wisdom for ya Gobbler.......not that you need any from a gun crank...........back in the old days, we would take up those tolerances with STP and 90 weight gear oil..... ----6

So much for the "Lube, lube, lube" theory...

piller · Post by **piller** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 1:18 am

I am sort of surprised that motor didn't break even the block. With all those little chunks of metal in there, it looks as if someone was trying to find out how long it took for complete destruction to occur.

claybob86 · Post by **claybob86** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 1:30 am

Good luck with this project! And how about a picture of the whole bike? What year made, etc.?

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 7:19 am

I didn't think of the whole bike picture. I'll try to remember today. It's a 1966 XLCH and at this point it is my oldest bike.
Gobbler

Old Ironsights · Post by **Old Ironsights** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 7:57 am

This is why I am one of only a handful of people to have ever FAILED the Mechanical section of the ASVAB ("You can be anything i the military that you want...EXCEPT a mechanic...")

What am I looking at?

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 12:02 pm

Here we go. I haven't decided on which black but I'm leaning toward satin like the front fender, not flat like the tank and back fender. Hey, anyone have a spare gas tank cap for one of these? I don't have one.

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 1:45 pm

Red, to match the rims...

M. M. Wright · Post by **M. M. Wright** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 2:12 pm

Pretty sure I have an old rusty cap that will have to be painted. I'll look.

What I have for sure is a complete flywheel/rod assembly that looks and feels good if that interests you.

My 76 ironhead is in the process of being brought back to life as soon as I get a couple of wood splitters completed.

MM

Malamute · Post by **Malamute** » Mon Mar 02, 2015 5:17 pm

Its a Sportster motor, is your crank assy for a big twin or Sportster? If the motor is apart, the crank should be torn down and rebuilt or carefully checked anyway. The hardest part is already done.

It should be fine to rebuild. They are hard to completely wear out. We'd even bore out and re-sleeve the cylinders when they got to the last oversize pistons available if they were cylinders that werent available any longer. The heads can go a LONG time. I think the only thing not rebuildable in the heads is valve seats. I've fixed several broken/stripped head bolts. The bearing races in the cases are replaceable if you get past the last oversize bearings. Cam bearings are caged and easily replaced. Lifter rollers can be replaced. Rocker arm bushings can be replaced.

If the cases are damaged, such as the flywheel scraper area, they can be built back up by a good heli-arc welder. If not completely shattered, the cases can be welded and fixed/

The square/sideways bearings may or may not have migrated around, but when stripped down to rebuild, shouldnt be a problem to get cleaned out. Flywheels are easily replacable if needed, as is the complete rods and crank pin assembly. It was cheaper to buy completely new S&S rods/crank pin assy than rebuild the old ones most of the time.

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Tue Mar 03, 2015 7:36 am

Well Mister Wright, I wish I'd have known that earlier. And to reply to Malamute, I already have a new crank pin with connecting rods and bearings coming. Also one of the cylinders was gouged from the wrist pin coming out. I thing the spiral lock ring came out and was the first problem but I'm not sure. Anyways since the cylinders were already 30 over and worn, and finding a used cylinder in the same wear level, I decided to buy two new cylinders with pistons and rings matched. It should make for a happy stock motor. The flywheels are in great shape and will get new thrust washers. Cool thing is the left and right shafts and bearings are within specs. I seams the debris never got to the outside of the wheels. I lost one cam bearing so all of them will get replaced. This is my first Ironhead and I'm impressed at how simple the design is. When I started getting into Harleys a few years back I was overwhelmed and scared I'd be messing up or ruining thing as I didn't know what I was doing. A bud with a lifetime of experience put we at ease with the notion that if you can work on a Briggs and Stratton, you can work on a Harley. He was right.

Gobbler

Paladin · Post by **Paladin** » Wed Mar 04, 2015 1:15 am

jeepnik wrote:As my dad would say when he came across things like this "Yep, it's broke". No need for more explanation.

Same here.

sore shoulder · Post by **sore shoulder** » Wed Mar 04, 2015 10:36 am

Malamute wrote:Its a Sportster motor, is your crank assy for a big twin or Sportster? If the motor is apart, the crank should be torn down and rebuilt or carefully checked anyway. The hardest part is already done.

It should be fine to rebuild. They are hard to completely wear out. We'd even bore out and re-sleeve the cylinders when they got to the last oversize pistons available if they were cylinders that werent available any longer. The heads can go a LONG time. I think the only thing not rebuildable in the heads is valve seats. I've fixed several broken/stripped head bolts. The bearing races in the cases are replaceable if you get past the last oversize bearings. Cam bearings are caged and easily replaced. Lifter rollers can be replaced. Rocker arm bushings can be replaced.

If the cases are damaged, such as the flywheel scraper area, they can be built back up by a good heli-arc welder. If not completely shattered, the cases can be welded and fixed/

The square/sideways bearings may or may not have migrated around, but when stripped down to rebuild, shouldnt be a problem to get cleaned out. Flywheels are easily replacable if needed, as is the complete rods and crank pin assembly. It was cheaper to buy completely new S&S rods/crank pin assy than rebuild the old ones most of the time.

Well, as long as they are gonna fall apart, might as well make it easy to fix em.

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Tue Jul 28, 2015 6:30 am

I wanted to bring up to date last winter's project.
Gobbler

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Tue Jul 28, 2015 8:41 am

Gobblerforge wrote:I wanted to bring up to date last winter's project.
Gobbler

Post by **AmBraCol** » Tue Jul 28, 2015 2:39 pm

SWEET!!!

missionary5155 · Post by **missionary5155** » Tue Jul 28, 2015 4:38 pm

Greetings
That is a beauty ! You have a real jewel sitting there. I really thought those square bearings would catch on though.
My dad was a happy camper to bring home a "bushel basket" bike as he called it.
Mike in Peru

Well there's your problem.

Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.

Re: Well there's your problem.