Pretending to know what I am doing - 1947 FL

[1950Panhead]

but don't you need the cork in to stop the hub sleeve from poppin' out? What else keeps it in place?

There are two retainer rings on the brake side, one for bearing, one for seal, photo shows parts in order.

[govmule84]

All shimming on star hub wheels is done dry and with the corks left out to get readings, then lubed and final assembly.

Your gearbox is mid 50s. Something before '56 when the top vent appeared but post '53 when all cases for several years bore the same date code of 3-3.

Ah, thank you. Very helpful, sir.

With regard to the hubs, I always set up the brake side completely first, then the star side with no cork, and then get to wigglin' the center sleeve, everything dry. I've never tried to do it any other way, but don't you need the cork in to stop the hub sleeve from poppin' out? What else keeps it in place?

(When I did my very first one way back when, like a broke idiot, I didn't have a manual, so I used this article.) The wheel worked out just fine, so I stuck with that method of doing it. I'm open to learning new ways to do things. I've just done a few like this and they have lived long and happy lives, so I never investigated any other method!

[Rubone]

All shimming on star hub wheels is done dry and with the corks left out to get readings, then lubed and final assembly.

Your gearbox is mid 50s. Something before '56 when the top vent appeared but post '53 when all cases for several years bore the same date code of 3-3.

[govmule84]

OK. Man, it's been a little while. I got really sick... pneumonia and then whoopin' cough, which sucks terribly. Can't recommend it. Still, I chiseled away and got some stuff done. I got both the star hubs rebuilt. Here, look at this little thing I learned:



See the stuff on the right? That's from J&P Cycles. The brake-side cork is dimensionally too large. Look at it compared to the stuff on the left. Those are James Gasket corks. The problem with this is because it's oversize, A) the thing is difficult to install, but more importantly B) it's more or less impossible to move the inner hub sleeve port to starboard, so you have no idea what shims to use in there. The James pieces allowed me to get my endplay and shim appropriately.

I stuck some new Safety Mileage tires on there, and a new drum/sprocky:



Next up was that trans lid.



The shift arm was kind of goose-egged, and the back side of it was chewing on the trans case. I had to make a new leather washer for it and slap a new shift lever in there, but it appears to be working nicely.



Timing them things is a pain. Yeah, you got your timing marks, but there is no mark for the dang shift lever! Yes, I know you only have 4 positions because the drive is square, but being off by 90° sorta sucks, because you gotta go back and do it again!

Now for the box. I'm having trouble figuring out what I have. I have a fifth mount, so I know it's not crazy early. I also know that it has a vent on the trans case, not in the top, which makes me think it's that Type III 1940-1955 one. That little tag (I think) says 3 30, so maybe a '50 transmission? I'd love some help on this. Here's a pic of the numbers:



Now one last little thing: see that drain plug? Case does not look repaired. Here is the weird part: It's drilled and tapped 3/8"-24. (I put the new plug in it, the old one was very tired-looking.) It does not appear to ever have been welded up or anything. I've never seen a drain screw this small in a BT trans, but lo and behold, there it is. It looks like there was a BT engine drain plug in there, so that's what I bought to replace it.



Any of you guys ever seen anything like that before?

Next up is going to be freshening up the box some. Gears look good, but there are lots of parts that need some attention. Little ancillary crap.

[govmule84]

I like this guy. ^^^^^^

[1950Panhead]

Black wheels after sand blasting.

[1950Panhead]

Chrome wheel before sand blasting.

[1950Panhead]

Yeah, I know the lower rails are often destroyed, but I don't know why. Is it just from riding the bikes offroad?

From hitting things.
I've had five knuckle frames, all five had smashed lower tubes, Yes it's strange, these bikes lived hard lives.

I assumed at least one wheel was incorrect. The only way I'll change one would be the rear, and that's only if the hub is destroyed.

I sandblasted chome off, you can too (after you check wheel dates)

The bike wears Speed Grips now, I always thought that was a late fifties/early sixties tire.

Check photos page 870,874,892,902,906, 18" wheels used different tires.

The light is probably a shelf item. Repop taillights never killed anyone.

Several have been killed on these bikes.

I'm not going to be drilling on the frame... I'm sure the water will exit just fine when the rails get cut out!

Tell your frame guy not to fill the tubes with water.

[govmule84]

Yeah, I know the lower rails are often destroyed, but I don't know why. Is it just from riding the bikes offroad?

I assumed at least one wheel was incorrect. The only way I'll change one would be the rear, and that's only if the hub is destroyed.

The bike wears Speed Grips now, I always thought that was a late fifties/early sixties tire.

The light is probably a shelf item. Repop taillights never killed anyone.

I'm not going to be drilling on the frame... I'm sure the water will exit just fine when the rails get cut out!

[1950Panhead]

The bottom frame rails are in pretty bad shape, and there were about a dozen poor welding repairs done to the lower half of the frame.

This is very common for knuckle frames.

In the meanwhile, I scrubbed off the wheels. I actually have two different finishes! The front was painted at some point, and the rear appears to be a chrome unit.

Most police bikes came with black wheels, I'm guessing chome wheel is replacement.
Kelsey Hayes made the wheels, there are date codes inside so you can see when they were made.

In addition, I'm going to buy some new tires and tubes. Avon Safety Mileage tires are looking good right now; unless someone can tell me why I should spend more for a Firestone Champion Deluxe or other tire, those are probably going to be my new skins.

Knuckles look best with replica firestone or goodyeat tires from coker - https://www.cokertire.com/

The housing is tired: the screws for the lens have been changed to metric at some point, and the little cast piece above the light that the license plate bracket bolts too is damn near gone

These are hard to repair, you can use heil coil inserts.

Hmm. I've used the car wash to scrub down most of the gross motorcycle parts I've bought in the past and all the bikes have come out looking really nice. What is the danger in the car wash?

Perfectly ok, drill small drain holes at low point if you hear trapped water.

[govmule84]

I'll probably be building the transmission up around Christmas.

I think this has the wrong screws in the trans top; they are Phillips-head. I don't care about that, but I did want to break them all free to make sure none were stuck. Especially with the later hex-head bolts, I have had them get stuck and breakin' em loose can be a serious pain. The trans is super-messy with mung and dirt and crap all over it, so I hosed some kero onto it around the screws and broke out the toothbrush.

Fortunately, they all loosened easily. I'll take the small wins where I can get 'em.



On a related note, if you're ever stuck for trans-top screws, lifter block screws are the same pitch thread and have the same angle as the "funnels" in the trans lids.

[govmule84]

Hmm. I've used the car wash to scrub down most of the gross motorcycle parts I've bought in the past and all the bikes have come out looking really nice. What is the danger in the car wash?

[len dowe]

Car wash was the first mistake.

[govmule84]

I think at this point you should stop and sell it to me for a nice profit before you *uck something up or get buried in this bike with problems or $$$$$.

Hey man! I don't know what it's worth, and it might be a little while before I run into another.

Yeah - the taillight is pot metal. Fantastic metal - strong, light weight, easy to machine, does not seep liquids but.... just don't break it cuz repairing it can be a bear. Why not post a picture of the taillight and then maybe we can give some suggestions on how to fix it.

Jerry

It looks kind of shot; the mounting bolt holes are opened up crazy-wide, too. From all the looking I've done pot metal is not weldable. This is probably a wall-hanger. I'll use a BS repop one until the expensive stuff gets paid off, then I'll just buy another one. Same one on the 45's it looks like, so I can probably find one better rather than trying to make my garbage usable again. I'll try to snap some pics this week.

[Jerry Wieland]

Yeah - the taillight is pot metal. Fantastic metal - strong, light weight, easy to machine, does not seep liquids but.... just don't break it cuz repairing it can be a bear. Why not post a picture of the taillight and then maybe we can give some suggestions on how to fix it.

Jerry