Removing Heads, Carb & Exhaust as an assembly?

[Slo-Ryd]

101 Harley-Davidson Performance Projects: For Evolution Big Twins and Sportsters - Kenna Love, Kip Woodring - Google Books


Came across this today while surfing in the 101 Harley Performance Projects book on Google while looking into the "Hayden Oil Fix". There's a pic on the second page if you scroll down in the pdf.

One of my winter projects is also going to be to fix a minor base gasket weep. Yes I know proper warmup reduces the likelyhood of developing them but I think it's a more prevelant problem up here in the northeast due to the extreme temperature swings. I could live with the minor weep, but I'm just downright picky and like my bike to present well no matter where I take it or park it. A future owner would certainly appreciate my compulsion for things being perfect.

There's times I leave for work in the early mornings and it's downright cold like 40-45 degrees. My Big Radius's aren't exactly the things my neighbors want to hear at 4:30 am so I usually never get a chance to let it sit there for the required warm up time I would like. I do however baby it when I get on the road until the motor warms up nicely never, ever twisting the wick till I feel it's up to temp.

Now, onto the real meat and potatoes of the post....has anyone ever tried this method of removing the rocker boxes and the cylinder bolts and taking it all off together...... heads, carb and pipes? Of couse disconnecting everything else like cables, fuel line, exhaust to frame bracket etc.

Seems like a neat shortcut I may try even though I've got a solid 2+ months to get it all done before the color and temps start to reappear up here in Connecticut. I could take my time piece by piece and savor the work but i've been there done that a bunch of times before. I just never really thought about this method/tip before.

This would also save having to get new intake and exhaust seals although they came in the Cometic Top End kit I just picked up. I could save the intake seals for one of those pesky intake leaks that rears it's ugly head from time to time on these early Evo's.

Just wonderin' outloud..............

 

[HDDon]

That is a very interesting picture and I'm sure that someone making flatrate time it is probably a good way to shave time off of the job. If it were me and I had all the gaskets and time I would not be taking any shortcuts. I want to do a good job and I only want to do it once. JMO

 

[Breeze3at]

That's the first time I have heard of the assembly removal. It would be very hard to do this job without putting some stress on the assembly. I would worry that the sensitive intake manifold to heads seal could get broken. I'd do it the old fashioned way ONCE.

 

[R_W_B]

Well if you removed all the tension on any pushrods first it's conceivable. But I would not do it. It's one thing to pull just the head (after loosening all the valve train tension) but it's another to slip all that connected stuff together. Sounds like a good way to crack the weakest link. And leaving the pipes on are IMHO out of the question all together.

 

[Slo-Ryd]

Well if you removed all the tension on any pushrods first it's conceivable.

I'd definitely remove the rockers and push-rods if I ever attempted it. However, I don't really think it's a great idea, just a different method I've never seen or heard of. I always like looking at and learning new tips or tricks but not at the expense of compromising something by cutting corners.

Now, upon "pontificating" further.....................how do you suppose they got the heads off of the dowels on the cylinders. Something got pryed on and thrown outta whack. There's no way you can lift straight up and out with the dowel pins on each cylinder in a 45 degree opposition to each other.......ouch:coffee

 

[fin_676]

I personally would take it all apart bit by bit and do everything properly it is then a good time to replace the intake and exhaust gaskets
replacing the base gaskets can be a bit of a pest as they tend to want to stay where they are and it may take some time to remove them without causing damage to the surface they are stuck to

Brian

 

[Redfish-Joe]

It would save some time on the teardown but before I put it back together it would have to come all apart anyway. Do it once, do it right. :s

 

[Midnight Reign]

three simple words.... don't even try..... there is no way you are going to match the crush on any of the gaskets when you reassemble it. You will pay the price of having to do most if not all of the job a second time. I dont think drag racers even try this and they do complete rebuilds in between rounds. What will you really gain

 

[Jack Klarich]

This would be great for a tech to beat book time, I would not do it tho, too many times Evo motors will leak from the top down from mis alignment, I would like to replace all the gaskets 1 time and replace the head bolts and check the case studs, for fractures to the case where the studs bolt in also JMO

 

[R_W_B]

You know there's something we did not address on this post. I realize it's old and the OP may not be interested anymore. But don't most all HD engines have dowels on the jugs for the heads to fit over. I know my Dyna does, and every auto I've ever tore apart did.

I don't think it would be possible to (geometry wise) to physically slip the heads off with the throttle bottle still attached, call it would bind on the jug to head dowels.

Of course really I don't feel any of the proposed proceedure is good practice (certainly not leaving the pipes on) but further I just don't really think the heads would clear the jug dowels with the throttle body holding them together as they attempted to rise off at the angle of the Vtwin.