recommendations on who to have rebuild my 53 motor and tranny ???

[PanH]

Here's my story ---- I bought my panhead in 1970.. Sometime around 1990 I had another bike and started riding that more, so the panhead was relagated to the back of the garage. there it sat as other bikes joined the fleet. It sat covered but unused. In 2024, .Hurricane Helene hit us and my house was flooded. Panhead too. 2 ft of salt water.. took me a long time to rebuild the house , Fast forward to today, I pulled the bike apart and have the motor and tranny out and want to have them gone through. Who would you recommend for this work ? I see various people on youtube and facebook, but ho knows what is real anymore vs BS . I'd appreciate your input and real expereince. Thanks for your help ! .

[PaulCDF]

PanH

Sorry you went through that hurricane but glad to hear you survived:

Love those Panheads
Here is my 2 cents:

Scott Palmer at Hillside:

Here is a Hillside post (fb) from March 5, 2026

"Mar 5th ·
As we have mentioned many times here, our in-house knowledge has us able to cover from vintage to present.
From a 61" EL, to a M8 132" fire-breather.
Just one of the many, many, aspects that puts us out front, and separates us, from others.
Both of these machines are stunning.
Get some!!
Not made in China.
Scott"

He gets work from all over the country
Reach out to Scott

He did the wheels on my Chief and he is rebuilding my 1941 Indian 741 engine which I think a previous owner used as a boat anchor.

325-495-6650

5225 South Main Street
Munnsville, NY

Hillsidecycle.com

[chuckthebeatertruck]

One of the few things I refuse to take into my shop are flood motors/transmissions. The reason is that unless you've done one; it's hard to imagine that EVERY single part needs to come out and be cleaned/inspected. This includes case races as corrosion can start behind them. In theory that shouldn't happen with press fit parts; in reality, I've seen it more than once.

So, even a "good" shop may not be prepared to do the full strip and inspection -- and you as the owner may not realize you'll be replacing almost every part in the motor or having it rebuilt.

In this regard, I'd recommend people I know for sure have worked on flood stuff successfully.

For folks in the Badger Heritage Chapter; that person is Willie K - https://www.facebook.com/williesrrservice/

You can see right on his facebook site that last week he was doing a flood transmission.

Willie is the real deal -- I wouldn't put his name out there if I didn't know him fully capable of accomplishing what you are after.

Please remember that one of the most overlooked things with flood bikes is the INSIDE of the frame tubes. I've seen about three flood bikes break frames a few years later from internal rust. It's not just draining out the water -- the salt left on the walls of the tubing continues to attract moisture and in areas around joins -- it often blooms into terrible internal rust.

[dukekleman]

One of the few things I refuse to take into my shop are flood motors/transmissions. The reason is that unless you've done one; it's hard to imagine that EVERY single part needs to come out and be cleaned/inspected. This includes case races as corrosion can start behind them. In theory that shouldn't happen with press fit parts; in reality, I've seen it more than once.

So, even a "good" shop may not be prepared to do the full strip and inspection -- and you as the owner may not realize you'll be replacing almost every part in the motor or having it rebuilt.

In this regard, I'd recommend people I know for sure have worked on flood stuff successfully.

For folks in the Badger Heritage Chapter; that person is Willie K - https://www.facebook.com/williesrrservice/

You can see right on his facebook site that last week he was doing a flood transmission.

Willie is the real deal -- I wouldn't put his name out there if I didn't know him fully capable of accomplishing what you are after.

Please remember that one of the most overlooked things with flood bikes is the INSIDE of the frame tubes. I've seen about three flood bikes break frames a few years later from internal rust. It's not just draining out the water -- the salt left on the walls of the tubing continues to attract moisture and in areas around joins -- it often blooms into terrible internal rust.

Well said and so true!

The flood victim motorcycles I've serviced back to road use have all had their own surprises .
I believe we all get accustomed to what we expect to encounter on a rebuild from years of experience, however a whole new experience awaits when you open up units that have been in a flood.

PanH,
I'm very sorry and sad that you have to go through it. Better days and rides ahead!

Duke Kleman

[exeric]

Any advice for what to do IMMEDIATELY after a bike has been under water? I'm not in a flood zone but it's always good to have some pertinent data for the old memory vault.

[dukekleman]

Any advice for what to do IMMEDIATELY after a bike has been under water? I'm not in a flood zone but it's always good to have some pertinent data for the old memory vault.

Here's my advice:

Why it is almost impossible to do so for other reasons that take priority after a flood, It is key to get these suggestions done right away.

1) Wash the vehicle very well with low pressure fresh water. Hand Scrub with soapy water. Rinse thoroughly with low pressure fresh water. Dry immediately very well.
Note: The marine products world has products for neutralizing the effects of salt water corrosion. I suggest using them.

2) Start disassembling the motorcycle. The wiring harness should be replaced. The salt water " wick's" through the wire strands and corrodes badly. There is no good solution for repair, simply replace. If not replaced, soon, voltage drop issues will occur from unwanted resistance.
Be sure to disassemble the entire engine, primary drive, transmission and wheel assemblies.
The speedometer, fuel tanks, oil tank, headlamp, tail light, ignition switch, regulator and generator should all be thoroughly cleaned.
The front end, Springer or Hydraulic should be taken apart and cleaned.
Lastly remove the rear brake cross shaft assembly and re- clean the frame.

This is all very labor intensive but pays off in money saved overall. The longer things sit assembled the worse the corrosion sets in.

Worse than this in my opinion are bikes that have been in a fire. Scary, horrible scenarios.

I hope this helps,

Duke Kleman

[exeric]

Another good tip: sell the bike immediately Just kidding; that would be criminal if not revealed to a buyer. Those are excellent suggestions, Duke particularly the wiring harness as I am sure that happened to many motorcycles here on the Gold Coast of Florida in '24, and with prior storm surges.

[Peter Cooke]

1) Wash the vehicle very well with low pressure fresh water. Hand Scrub with soapy water. Rinse thoroughly with low pressure fresh water. Dry immediately very well.
Note: The marine products world has products for neutralizing the effects of salt water corrosion. I suggest using them.

100% agree with Duke's response.

I've done 40+ years in the Naval shipbuilding & repair industry and the rule re accidental seawater 'intrusions' has never changed.
Get fresh water onto it asap! It's already wet but better wet with fresh water than sea water.

[JoJo357]

100% agree with Duke's response.

I've done 40+ years in the Naval shipbuilding & repair industry and the rule re accidental seawater 'intrusions' has never changed.
Get fresh water onto it asap! It's already wet but better wet with fresh water than sea water.

For what it's worth, i'm in Total agreement with the above comments. Many m()()ns ago when we used to camp, and ride our motorcycles on the Daytona Beach, if you didn't spray your motorcycle down PDQ, certain vulnerable parts, especially around welds, it would start rusting almost immediately, with only riding on the ocean mist sand! Being a young whippersnapper, i didn't heed the warning from an old timer back then, and the next day, i just couldn't believe how much surface rust had began to rear it's ugly head. And that was with a few months old 1975 Super Glide. After that lesson, i washed the motorcycle down right after, and ride dried it without any rust issues. I can just imagine what it would do to the internals. Sorry for your Hurricane mishap Pan H. I hope You get the Pan back up & running again. Good Luck!

*M.A.D.*

[chuckthebeatertruck]

Having done both fire and flood bikes, it all depends. House/business fire and salt water are the worst. Creek silt and high magnesium/electron content parts exposed to fire that “shrink” are second for me.

To the wash advice, yes and yes. Then, be VERY liberal with WD40. Literally flood the hell out of everything. You still have a mtn to climb, it’s just less tall.

Florida and Kentucky, plus a few other states, are the reason all states adopted new titling rules a few years back regarding salvage or insurance liens/markings/disclosure. Both states allowed fully destroyed vehicles that should not be on the road to be registered as clean vehicles with zero history of rebuilding. Crap that got salvaged out in Georgia or Tennessee would make its way a state over, get a title wash, and get sold up north as a “southern rust free vehicle.” Many a new owner found out about major flood damage when things like rust in unusual places and the sort of wiring issues duke mentioned popped up.

Copart sold a ton of salvage flood bikes in early 2025 from the ‘24 storms. Every single one sat outside for weeks or months letting the corrosion get worse. The pictures of the as received condition were already scary. A few weeks sitting in a mud/gravel lot with weather cycling is a true recipe for a mess.

my Florida friends regularly send me photos of bikes they inspect with clear flood lines on them and/or some of the most amazing rust. An aermacchi the other day had the whole bottom of the fuel tank just missing from rust and the remainder so thin it was like lace! Gotta love salt for its destructive ability.

[joe fxs fxr]

FWIW, I took on a flood bike in Florida, and here's the advice I received and followed from a well respected shop. Bike in question was a 1989 Harley FX Springer.

hot water and pine sol 2 quarts in a 5 gallon bucket use rubber corks leave it couple days - i take the tig and thing that leaks you cant cork that is small seam in the frame line weld it - you need eliminate as much salt as possible


also have used slimy grimy used to clean painted boat bottoms devolve it in warm water fill the frame - if you dont end the salt 5 years out the frame will crack while riding it — seem that he did not listen

i would then fill the frame with PB blaster and Don’t wash it out you want it to stain the inside of the raw metal couple gallons

cork up all opening that leak leave it a month then drain let it dry and other 2 weeks and do it again its going to change the weather any 50 up day wheel it out side

nothing i said will hurt the paint or powder coating and will help flush out the salt so it lasts < the water is gone the salt is left in a crust - done this and it sucks to do

but what you have is worth the time and the effort - the more you pre pair the longer it will last kind of thing


Here's what the motor looked like inside. I had to replace EVERYTHING! But now I have essentially a brand new motor.

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