1950 Panhead

[41craig]

This is a bike that I bought locally ( St. Louis ) Dec. 2013. It's a 1950 EL that's been in the same family since new. I just retired and it's time to get this thing back on the road.

[41craig]

1950 Panhead

I bought this bike locally ( St. Louis ) Dec. 2013 from the family who owned it since new. It's a 1950 EL that has 5 #'s on the VIN. So I guess that it's a late '50 model. A family member took it to a local shop in the last 10 years. I'm thinking that is where the non OEM wheels, tank trim, front fork panels, headlight, seat, 12 volt system came from. Someone also " updated " the heads with the junky o'ring inserts. I immediately started breaking it down to restore it to original shape. The next posts will show what I found and what I redoing.

[exeric]

1950 is a great year for Hydra-Glides, as are all early hydraulic fork H-Ds. It looks like it could be a good rider, but it may be a ways off from correct for 1950. I've always liked the 3 stripes on the rear fender, the tank badge, and the lean look of the early Glides. Keep us posted on your progress, and don't hesitate to ask questions. Welcome to the AMCA.

[41craig]

1950 Panhead

My first chore was to pull the upper end and see what I have. Before removing the heads, I figured that it would be easier to take out the inlet nipples first. The first thing that I noticed was that the rear nipple was not installed correctly. It sucked air between the nipple and head, thus removing some threads. It was time to call my old friend Otis to have him weld, machine and rethread the head. He is semi retired from building bikes. Machining what ever you need. Expert welder and one heck of a frame man. 100_0408.jpg100_0407.jpg100_0385.jpg100_0405.jpg100_0406.jpgOther than the nipples, these heads are perfect !!! The threads are all good. No broken fins. Exhaust flanges are perfect. Seats look good.

[41craig]

Thanks Eric. This bike was a daily rider for the original owner ( family member ). I started a post on the Member Bike Builds section, but my second post was not added to the original post. It became it's own post. Not sure what I did wrong ??

[exeric]

I have a 1951FL, Craig so I love early Hydra-Glides. From '49-'51, each year Hydra-Glide was very unique and each one is profoundly individual; even though most people think they all look the same

[41craig]

Here is the transmission before total rebuild.1950 Pan (10).jpg1950 Pan (11).jpg1950 Pan (12).jpg1950 Pan (13).jpg1950 Pan (14).jpg

[41craig]

Here is the transmission ready to button back up.000_0573.jpg000_0574.jpg

[41craig]

Here is the rear head after welding and before tapping.image0.jpgimage0.jpg

[BigLakeBob]

Trans looks good. To fix the head threads is your friend going to cnc thread mill,re-tap, or other? Tough to weld a section of thread then re-thread in my opinion. Please show the results. Thanks for sharing.

[exeric]

I have to agree with Bob; that looks like a tough repair. However, the intake nipple seals where the nipple, and head meet. Those surfaces have to be dead on, and that is the challenge. When H-D machined their heads, they made the threading, and facing operation perfect, so when a properly machined nipple was threaded in, it was sure to seat flush to the head. Unfortunately, chopper guys thought rubber band manifolds would cure all their leaking problems so when they removed the plumber style nipple, they only made things worse. Getting back to the what H-D did when they first machined that head is tough, but it can be done.

[41craig]

Bob and Eric; Yes he used his Bridgeport after welding and I lent him my Harley Davidson Factory intake tap. It came out beautifully. Here are shots of the Carl's intake nipples installed.100_1072.jpg100_1071.jpg100_1073.jpg100_1074.jpg

[BigLakeBob]

All looks good and glad you progressed. Was the fixture capturing the fins in your last picture used to hold the head while finishing the threads? Thanks.

[Rubone]

Was the fixture capturing the fins in your last picture used to hold the head while finishing the threads?

Looks like a homemade head holder screwed into the plug hole for the pics.

[41craig]

Bob; No. Robbie; Yes it's an old spark plug that I broke the top off of and welded a piece of square tubing to. I did the same with the 18 mm plug. This is the way that I have done valve jobs for over 35 years.