54 straight leg motor mounts not lining up

[Panhead_Bobber_11C]

I got an OEM 54 straight leg frame for my 55 FLH motor recently. I just went to drop my engine in the new frame today and go to bolt it in. The problem that I'm having is when I put the 2 rear bolts in they line up fine and fit, then I go to put the 2 front bolts in and they are off by a c*nt hair. I tried the other way around and put the 2 front bolts while leaving the rear bolts out and run into the same problem just vice versa the front/rear. The frame and motor is OEM. The frame does not look bent at all. No scuff marks or cracks or repairs that I see. Plus i don't see how with no visible damage that the motor mounts on the frame could be moved. Usually it's the legs or the rear and those are totally straight and perfect. This leaves me to believe maybe my crankcases are whats a little bit off. I have pictures I will add. Now I know I can just drill it out a little bit but I do not want to ruin this frame it is a very rare frame and has all the bells and whistles nothing cut off or anything it would be a shame to do that. Or I can use 5/16 bolts in the front and use lock washers and lock nuts. I don't see it moving. Would like some opinions on what the hell this could be.

[Panhead_Bobber_11C]

I figured it out. I was able to thread the bolts through and lightly knock them down with a hammer. They were a c*nt hair off like I said but was able to get it done. Tried to delete the post but idk how

[joe fxs fxr]

Glad you figured it out. Did you shim the front mount before tightening those bolts?

[Jerry Wieland]

I got an OEM 54 straight leg frame for my 55 FLH motor recently. I just went to drop my engine in the new frame today and go to bolt it in. The problem that I'm having is when I put the 2 rear bolts in they line up fine and fit, then I go to put the 2 front bolts in and they are off by a c*nt hair. I tried the other way around and put the 2 front bolts while leaving the rear bolts out and run into the same problem just vice versa the front/rear. The frame and motor is OEM. The frame does not look bent at all. No scuff marks or cracks or repairs that I see. Plus i don't see how with no visible damage that the motor mounts on the frame could be moved. Usually it's the legs or the rear and those are totally straight and perfect. This leaves me to believe maybe my crankcases are whats a little bit off. I have pictures I will add. Now I know I can just drill it out a little bit but I do not want to ruin this frame it is a very rare frame and has all the bells and whistles nothing cut off or anything it would be a shame to do that. Or I can use 5/16 bolts in the front and use lock washers and lock nuts. I don't see it moving. Would like some opinions on what the hell this could be.

If it was my bike I would make sure that the bolts fall into the holes freely. The last thing you need is an aluminum case that is heating/cooling attached rigidly to a steel frame with bolts that are exerting stress. If nothing else at least run a rat tail file thru the holes until the bolts fall in mostly free.

....and as mentioned earlier - make sure that you checked the motor mounts for needing shims. I recently spent over a day getting a 47 set of OHV cases to fit nicely into its' frame. At least 50 times I bolted/unbolted them from the frame. Jerry

[kitabel]

Forced fit bolts = mistake, something is wrong.

[Speeding Big Twin]

my 55 FLH motor

motor is OEM.

maybe my crankcases are whats a little bit off.

Is your left case really 55? If so you have mismatched cases because your R-H case is 58 or later due to no generator cradle. Could mismatched cases be part of the problem?
Eric