JD cases have been altered

[Doc-54]

I'm starting in on a recently acquired '28 JD rebuild and found that the cases have either been damaged or altered intentionally. The "skirt" at the cylinder base on the rear cylinder has been mostly removed. I'm wondering how this will affect oiling of both cylinders and if I should repair back to the original design?

[Steve Slocombe]

I find a lot of VL cases with the same damage, often deliberate. When Harley took out the baffles in 1940, owners must have thought this was a way of modernizing the older bikes. I used to have the baffles repaired but this is not an easy job, and you risk a poor repair dropping a large piece of metal into the cases. We can also guess your engine ran for a long time as it is. I would leave it alone, and omit the oil rings on any new pistons, but others may have different views.

[Doc-54]

Thanks for the advice. I was hoping that would be the case (no pun intended!).