Rocker cover acorn nut

[hennigan62]

On a 72 xlch in pictures the dome head on the acorn nut is red. In the parts book it just shows the nut. Is the red painted or a plastic cap ?

[painterdale]

I believe they are plastic, "crimped" on as part of the nut. Dale

[jim d]

Yes, there is a red plastic cap on the end crimped as Dale stated.
Jim D.

[hennigan62]

Thanks Jim and Dale. I'll check tomorrow If colony or hd offers them.

[vph-d]

IIRC, they went obsolete back in the late 80s. Perhaps your dealer can do a part number search for you.
VPH-D

[Sidehacker]

You brought back a lot of memories . They were indeed a plastic cap that was used as a locking nut . They came on both sportsters and shovels of the day . The plastic caps were a little smaller than the threads and they were not threaded into. When you put them on it would grab the first couple of threads on the end of the rocker arm shafts and make it hard for them to back out. There were no lock washer on the end of the rocker arm shafts just a thin flat washer. They were supposed to be discarded after removal and new ones put on every time so there should be a **** load of them around somewhere. I would use mine two or three times and never had any problems except a little oil leak from time to time. I had a 73 ( worst year for casted parts on shovels) police special and my partner had a 74 FX and he never changed his acorn cap nuts so if you find a set clean threads real good and use locktite and you can reuse them with no problems. Even if you get a used set . Hope this helps . FNA Keith

[painterdale]

You would think they would be everywhere since they came on Sportsters and Shovels! I've got a handful of used ones in the garage. Dale

[hennigan62]

Keith, thanks for info. Obsolete thru hd with red cap, but still available without. Teds does offer with red cap. Local dealer mid-ohio Harley davidson has both. Just trying to put a 72 back as close as possible.

[billpedalino]

I originally bought a few from Ted, but they weren't like the originals. They were chrome plated and the caps were translucent whereas the originals were a reddish opaque plastic. However, Old Dude now has them and they're very nice. He has the thin flat washers as well. Like all of his hardware, the fit is very good.

[hennigan62]

Looked at some today from teds and they cad or zinc with red plastic caps. Package pretty old. They looked good.