46 Knuckle engine

[Steve Little]

Howdy.
46 Knuckle engine build for your entertainment.

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Knock, knock, anyone home? Eviction notice is served.

Ever notice the smell that comes out of these things when the mud seal is broken. Phew!!

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[Steve Little]

Good condition Knuckle heads are hard to find. These were reasonable but have a few issues to work around.
The rubber band inlet nipple was well sealed but eventually gave way with some brutish persuasion from a colet spanner.
Threads are now, as good as new.

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[nuklhd]

thanks in advance steve. intake came out nice.do you just hold the head on your bench and turn the tap by hand? or does it go in some kind of fixture.

[T. Cotten]

..Threads are now, as good as new.

You're not out of the woods, yet, Steve!

Note that the threads have nothing to do with sealing the nipples.
That broken thin lip around them is supposed to bite into the shoulder of the nipple.

Its a simple silver-solder and sculpting repair, if you've done it a few times.

....Cotten

[duffeycycles]

For the same reason I did not like the replacement nipples thread fit [I would think twice at least] before using a tap in that situation.....taps tend to take too much away & you end up with loose threads.A used nipple with a v filed in threads used as tap would be better in my opinion

[T. Cotten]

For the same reason I did not like the replacement nipples thread fit [I would think twice at least] before using a tap in that situation.....taps tend to take too much away & you end up with loose threads.A used nipple with a v filed in threads used as tap would be better in my opinion

Sorry to repeat myself, Duffey!

But the threads have little to do with sealing, other than holding the nipple firmly against the sealing lip.

No straight threads seal by themselves.
They ain't NPT...

I agree though, a used nipple is a decent thread chaser.

....Cotten
PS: I have found no evidence that H-D used a sealer, but I did for Chiefs.

[Steve Little]

Howdy fellas. Glad to see a hive of activity.

Hi nuklhd
I don't have a fixture. Held the head down with one hand and screwed in tap with the other. CRC lubed the process. It's a “Start” tap and has a chamfered lead. First thread measures at 1;718” diam and graduates out in size to a total of 1.756 at 1/2” out. This makes it perfect for cleaning or reshaping marred threads. I mainly use it on Pan heads because of the mess the aluminium threads can become. Using this tap and sealant has given me excellent results.

Tom.
You are the undisputed guru on inlet manifolds and carburetors, and you have lead the charge for giving the vintage HD world advice on sealing manifolds for many years. I appreciate your advice and agree with all that you have written, but I wont be brazing the small section of missing lip. I will coat the threads with sealant and bring the nipple up tight to the lip.

Thanks Duffey.
The threaded depth of both these heads is 15/32” so the chamfered section of the “Start” tap was not big enough to remove metal and just removed the goop from the thread.
I agree with you on the Colony replacement nipple. Looks like they have added length to the threaded section for an O-ring. I will have to put the Colony nipple in the lathe and turn off 040” as it bottoms out before hitting the lip. I would prefer to tighten up to the lip for an even support rather than bottom out against the inner most thread.


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[Steve Little]

Spent the day working on rocker tins.

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There were a few cracks to take care of, but first I needed to press the distortion out of the bottom.
Better to press them flat before brazing the cracks.


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The press tools do a nice job of this.

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The smaller mandrel fits neatly inside the base of the spring enclosure and the extension is long enough to stick out the top to press on. Buy flattening it out, I have more contact area and a better chance of the tin to seal to the gasket on the head.

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[Steve Little]

Once the bottom was made flat I could braze the cracks.

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Chipped the glass off the weld and gave it a light press to make sure it was still straight.
Now to get the tin covers to fit nicely.

[Steve Little]

These are original rocker tins and look like they have had many years of rebuilds. The lids were badly warped and had suffered mistreatment somewhere along the line.
Some patience and a few hours of light hammer work on mandrels and they came out pretty good.
The lids are sitting in position without screws.

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A picture with the screws fitted. The gaskets should seal up nicely.

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The next step will be to mock the tins on a head and bolt the alloy cover in place.
By doing this, I will be able to check the contact area of the tins on the rubber seal in the alloy cover.

The picture below, shows a screwdriver pointing to a common problem with Knuckle rocker tins.
Maybe the guy who worked the incline press didn't always get the plate in the die-set quite right.
When this bottom tin was formed to the shape, it must have been a bit skewed in the die set.
Not much chance that the rubber gasket in the alloy cover will make a good seal against this type of misalignment.

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When I get the cover mocked up on the head I will be able to make a decision if I need to file some off, or add some metal by welding.

[Steve Little]

It is late winter here and flu season is going great. By this I mean, just about everyone is complaining of coughs, colds, and sore holes.
I've been a bit green around the gills since Tuesday so a couple of days went past before I got out of bed.
I offer apologies for the interruption to scheduled viewing... but I do have a note from my mum to say I could stay away.
Sick of being sick, I came out to the workshop, switched on the lights, turned on the heaters and dragged my heels around for a while.
Here's what I got done:
The countersunk scaring from the case stud nuts was 030” deep. I had to weld up a missing piece on the right case.
While I was spot facing that one, I decided to spot face all the pads and I will use a Colony stud kit with washers to protect the faces.

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Scheduled viewing may have a few interruptions over the next week. The first AMCA meet will be held at Bulli near Woolongong NSW next weekend. A rag tag crew of us will leave Melbourne on Thursday and get there Friday morning. If I don't get back to post anything before that date...its ok because my sick note has no date.
Regards Steve

[Steve Little]

Hi.
Time to get back into this engine.
Today I was going through my parts and making a shopping list for shafts, nuts, etc for the flywheels.
During my hunt I came across this cam which I bought about 10 years ago and remember that it is NOS.
The brown colour on the lobes is dried up cosmoline and the tag has come adrift.

It is a solid spindle cam which I thought denoted it as Knuckle, but I don't build enough engines to be confident in the difference between Knuckle and Pan cams.
I got a few more cams out and did a side by side with a Pan head H cam, and some early Knuckle cams.
The profile of the lobes on the NOS cam look more like the Pan head cam than the 2 Knuckle cams on the right.
Thought I would throw the pictures up to the information bank of this community, to see if anyone can shed some light on the cam.

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[Rubone]

Steve, that is a Panhead cam. As you can see on the Knuckle cams the lobe is much taller. That is due to the 1-1 rocker arm ratio. If you look at them side by side the lobe spacing on the shaft is also different and does not line up with Knuckle tappet guides.

The standard FL cam is not marked, the "H" (FLH or "Victory" cam), The "61" for 61CI or FLE motors, and the HL (TT Cam) are all marked.

[Steve Little]

Excellent information. Thanks Robbie.
I had just finished posting the pictures of the cams when I heard a loud clatter and thud. I called out to see if everything was allright. My wife calls out to come and look. She was just backing out the drive when a neighbor walked in and said hello. Literally 5 seconds later, a big gum tree fell from across the road and landed square in our drive. It would have flattened Anne's car. I spent 3 1/2 hours cutting it up to clear the road. Tomorrow I will post a picture of the side profile of the Knuckle and Pan lobes.

[Rooster]

Glad to hear disaster was averted, Steve!

Coincidentally, my old chopper motor has 1941 knucklehead cases, with a panhead top end.
Naturally, it has a panhead cam and valve train, including lifter blocks. Curiously, the innermost lifter roller does not perfectly line up with the cam lobe; it runs off the edge about 1/8" or so, maybe more. The only issue I can see would be premature wear, but the truth is, that motor hasn't been opened up since the mid-'80s, and I've owned it since 1974.
I've always been curious about that roller misalignment; apparently that's one of the differences in the right side case between knucks and pans. I may never really know....

(Apologies for polluting the theme of your thread....)