1953 cam cover

[Chris Haynes]

a heavily polished cover is not correct no matter how it is cast.

[bmh]

The motor in the picture is 52EL22XX. The change in pinon shafts is covered in Shop Dope #348 of 9/27/1954. don't know for absolutely sure, but I don't think it's a straight swap on the bushings. Guess you could make one though. As for the ALCOA thing.... I've heard about the strike, but it didn't seem to affect other products. ALCOA made stuff for all kinds of things sold by all types of merchants. I always kinda figured it had more to do with the drop in sale that occurred at the same time. Rather than laying-off foundry men who would be hard to replace if sales picked back up, they started to find everything they could to keep them busy. Gearcovers, mousetrap brackets just to name two off the top of my head.

[Rubone]

I've swapped a few of those bushings. For a time it was hard to get cages and bearings for the earlier bearing so I was using the '54 style pinion shaft and Sportster cages and bearings with the change in case bushing and timing cover bushing. The replacement bushings were undrilled and the depth is critical but not a difficult swap. I always used whatever part I liked in those days and made it work! I used to ride a '65 Electra glide with a Shovel top end and a '64 cam cover. It was a true Frankenstein bike. '66 right tank and '67 left, both with petcocks. All the '63-'65 trim, bag guards, bumpers, etc. Small tour pack, King size windshield, '65 dual exhaust. Really screwed people up who noticed! I still like to do what is incorrect! I spend lots of time trying to learn what is right but my own stuff is just what I want, just like the old days!
Robbie

[flat-happy]

amen to that!!!!! i just put the new style bushing in a 51 cover today. the bushing comes drilled now. when i tried to align hone it to the case bushing it was perfect and didn't need any material removed---first time that ever happened. i had the cover chromed for the customer. is it just me or does that piss of anyone else when you have to do that?? oh well he paid for it

[oldsouthmcy]

Tom,

I do not check the forums very often so this one missed me until this morning. The four-rib cover is correct for a 1953.

It can be seen on page 9 of Palmer's How-To book. The photo is a touched up photo for the 1953 new models Enthusiast (Sept 1952). The caption notes that this photo was first used to introduce the 1951's (Sept 1950) and retouched again to represent a 1953. A major change in the photo was the new four fin gear cover.

As noted in Palmer's book, the 1953 model photos are proto-types using a late 1952 as its core. Either the four fin cover was not yet available to build a motor with for the photo shoot (several months ahead of actual production) or it was believed that the touch-up artists would correct the issue (which they did and which escaped my attention when I wrote the section on the 1953).

Another detail about the 1953 four fin cover is its use of the earlier bushing, making it the last version of 25216-48.

Another fine point on this, and again another escaped detail, is that the 1953-1955 four-ribbed covers are of a different design than the 1956-1964 covers.

Referring to the photos on the top of page 607 (1955) and bottom of page 621 (1959), look at the area between the two screws either side of the crankcase push rod screen and valve boss. In the 1955 photo you see a spot that looks like a corner of a white card. That is an exposed area of the right crankcase. For 1956, the cover was modified to cover that spot with an angled section cast into the cover at that locaton.

Taking this a little further, the first version of gear cover 25216-54 is the last version of 25216-48 but with the late pinion bushing installed.

Bruce

[Rooster]

i dropped that cover off yesterday and will have it back this week----you gotta get rid of those button head screws anyway tom!!!!don't be bummed---yer gonna have a new motor----silver cylinders and all!!!!

Yeah Stillman, the photo is of the '52 motor in just the condition I bought it. Needs a lot of work, but I'm not to the motor yet, just gathering correct parts. I already have heads, cylinders, and tappet blocks. I don't want to disassemble the motor until I'm ready to rebuild it. When I do, you can be sure I'll have the correct finishes and correct fasteners...!

[bmh]

Bruce, I think you misunderstand wahat is represented by the photo on page 9. That photo as presented was used for three years and retouched multiple times. Could be a typo on that version being used for 53. It was put there as a warning against using it for historical accuracy. here is a cpoy of the same photo as it appeared in the 51 model intro brochure with an ALCOA cover.



Here is a copy of the last page of Shop Dope 348. The factory may have played a lot of games with photos and ad copy, but service bulletins are serious. They were sent out to insure machines got serviced properly.

[vph-d]

I had a 53 back in the 70s, it had a 4 rib cam cover. A guy I know just bought a high number 52 that is very stock, previous owners known, that has a 4 rib cover. Strange...
VPH-D

[Chris Haynes]

I have factory photo of a low number 1952. Photo entered into the Pohlman Log on 07/19/1951. It clearly shows the sand cast timing gear cover.
Sorry but computer problems prohibit me showing a photo right now.

[oldsouthmcy]

bmh,

What I was trying to say in my previous post and by pointing out the photo from page 9 was that it was H-D's intension to roll out the 1953 Big Twins with the four-rib gear cover. It was also my intension to show that I had over looked the four-rib cover for 1953 when I wrote the book while I had the evidence in my own book.

I agree that the 1953 motor uses the early pinion, bearing, and cage arrangement as you show in the service bulletion above. That is why I wrote in my previous post "Another detail about the 1953 four fin cover is its use of the earlier bushing, making it the last version of 25216-48."

For all of their printing errors, H-D would not have modified their Big Twin photos to show the four-rib gear cover when they introduced the 1953 if they did not intend to release the four-rib cover in 1953. Whether or not the first 1953 had a four rib cover, I do not know but by mid-1953, Big Twins were built with the four-rib cover.

The other point I was trying to make is that the casting used to make the 1953-1955 four-rib covers is visibly different from the casting used for the 1956-1964 four-rib covers as the later castings have an extra boss covering an area of crankcase previously left exposed. This is why I then wrote "the first version of gear cover 25216-54 is the last version of 25216-48 but with the late pinion bushing installed."

I did not mean that this first version of 25216-54 was used in 1953 or that any 1953 used a 25216-54 gear cover. I meant that the 1954-1955 #25216-54 cover was created from the same casting used for the 1953 motors' gear cover but that the 1954 and later versions were modified for the later pinion bushing. I also meant that the 1954-1955 #25216-54 cover is not the same as the later covers.

To go one step further, if I laid a 1953 #25216-48 four-rib cover next to a 1954-1955 #25216-54 four-rib cover with the rib side up, the two covers would be identical. Turn them over, rib-side down, the differences would then be plain to see, the pinion bushing.

Bruce

[bmh]

Bruce, I considered the plausibility of what you just said after I made the previous post. Sometimes it takes a while for a notion to take hold in there. While I can't refute your claim because it turns out that original 53's are quite rare. In the five or so years I have turned my devotions and affections entirely toward the early Hydra Glides I have yet to run across one. I also do not have a copy of the Sept 52 enthusiast either. I do know however that I, nor anyone I know has ever had a cover as you describe in there possession or taken one off a running machine. Which I think seems quite odd. If as you state, the last of the -48 covers made were four rib covers, then it stands to reason that all the parts counter replacement parts sold post mid 53 would also be the same style. So where are all these covers if they were sold over the counter into the early 60's? they are a fairly common crash damage item. I also assume they would have to be marked differently inside so that a mechanic would not inadvertently install one on the wrong machine as this cover would fit onto a 54 or later machine with the disastrous results to show up later. Yet the bulletin doesn't mention that, only to be sure to use the 54 and later cover with the later pinion. Sounds to me like they thought the difference was so obvious that it did not require further clarification. Also, none of the ad copy I have for 53 shows this new feature ( The covers are completely hidden behind the riders foot). The factory was usually pretty good about showing off new styling. I do know you see quite a few earlier machines with four rib covers. The reason I was given by an old dealer for this was that the 24007-39 gear shaft was discontinued and replaced by the 24006-54 shaft ( actually-54A at that point) so that the same basic machining process could be used for current production and spares. This of course required the replacement of the gear cover as well when the pinion needed renewed. I've even seen at least one Knuckle wearing a four rib cover that had the feed passage drilled into it. So while I can offer no solid evidence to refute your claim, I have also not seen anything concrete enough to support it so I must remain very sceptical. Though my eyes are open to the possibility and I will now have my eyes peeled for the elusive cover or some proof one way or the other.