[FLTRXpilot]

I'm in the process of getting all my engine cases, rocker boxes, and various other parts powdered. I have a manual and am pretty mechanically inclined. I've read a lot about reassembly on the rocker boxes on various forums but one thing keeps spinning around in the back of my mind....
Nowhere have I read on people's advice when tearing down/building back the rocker boxes using assembly lube except in the manual. My bike has been sitting for about 2 months now without oil in any of the holes and the engine covers and rocker boxes have been off for a month. All my parts were cleaned, particularly the pushrods, rockers and hardware. No oil film is on these parts. So I guess my question(s) are this....
Should I use assembly lube where the manual says?
And is there a priming method needed as in new engine assembly when I am close to firing her up? There's still some oil in the cases but even the covers were off for an extended time allowing a lot of oil to drip out (what a mess!).
And.... Short of getting the Snap-on torque extenders (or comparable) does anyone have tips/tricks to get proper torque on the left rear rocker frame and the rocker box bolt. ??

 

[pat123]

I put a bit of lube on the tips of the push rods and the tops of the valve stem. I leave the plug out and the wires off and hit the starter button until I see oil pressure. I install the plugs and wires and start the motor. Harley sells a offset wrench to use with your torque wrench.

 

[FLTRXpilot]

Thanks man! That's what I'll do then. I guess my 12 year old assembly lube will get chucked for some new...

 

[ironmark]

No need to buy a special torque tool to do the rocker box bolts. Just hand tighten them good and you will be good, I took my rocker boxes off many times and never used a torque wrench on the bolts and never had a problem.
Same thing with the rocker assembly just tighten them good and all is good, remember that steel bolts are going into aluminum so over tightening can strip the threads.
Soak your lifters in engine oil for at least 24 hours is all you need to do, I never used assembly lube on the ends of the pushrods and everything works fine but you can use it if you want. The sooner the lifters pump up the sooner you get oil on the top end.
Cranking the engine until you get oil PSI before starting isn't needed just start the engine, because the amount of revolutions without oil to the top end will be the same and cranking the engine will not pump up the lifters any sooner. Just don't rev the engine until the lifters are pumped up which is easy to tell because the lifter noise will go down considerably.
If your using the perfect fit pushrods just tighten down the rocker bolts a little bit and stop, take a little time for the lifters to compress then tighten the bolts a little more and stop again, repeat this until the bolts are seated and then snug them up good. Start the breather bolts but don't use the breather bolts to tighten down the rocker assembly, tighten the breather bolts after the 4 main rocker bolts are tightened
There may be some noise while the lifters pump up but it will go away, the top ends on these engines are well built and will handle the run time it takes for the oil to get to the top end.

 

[FLTRXpilot]

Thanks for the responses. Seems the techniques and comfort level is as varied as the seasons. It gives me lots of comfort knowing I can go either way. I'll probably use a combo approach then. The lifter covers are already snugged down so the best I could do would be to pour some oil down those holes before I put the pushrod covers back on.
It's good to know the topend is stout. All I have to do now (besides put it together) is figure out what oil I'll use for the primary and trans. I'm gonna try Amsoil Synth in the motor.

 

[Hillsidecycle.com]

You may witness additional engine noise(s) with that oil.
Scott

 

[FLTRXpilot]

You may witness additional engine noise(s) with that oil.
Scott

Interesting. I just filled the primary and motor with Amsoil. I will keep the tunes down and check that out. At the risk of making this into a oil battle thread what do you like ??

 

[ironmark]

I use Mobil 1 20w50 V Twin oil in the engine and Mobil 1 or Valvoline 75w140 full synthetic gear lube in the trans (you can use 75w90 gear lube too). I have used the Mobil 1 20w50 in the primary but now I just use HD trans and primary oil.

 

[FLTRXpilot]

Now a stupid question.... It seems that when I cleaned the left over rubber off the pushrod covers I cleaned yellow rubber off the very top. The one that enters the cylinder head. I have 4 larger brown O rings (for the bases, I guess as the size gives it away), 4 smaller brown and 4 smaller but larger rubber surface yellow O rings.... I just don't remember and the manual just says"install new O rings".... I'm searching the manual while I hope for a reply..!

 

[sj01fltri]

Yellow goes in the heads.The smaller brown goes on the pushrod tubes,the larger brown goes in the lifter covers.

 

[FLTRXpilot]

Yellow goes in the heads.The smaller brown goes on the pushrod tubes,the larger brown goes in the lifter covers.

Thanks that's what I figured. I did it that way!

 

[FLTRXpilot]

Okay, you ain't going to believe this crap! Front jug went just fine putting on lower rocker box, rockers, breather vent and upper rocker box. I used the manual and set my torque wrench to all the correct torque ratings.

So I went to the rear jug and put the lower rocker box on, rockers and then started the breather filter. The torque reading shows between 120 and 156 inch pounds. So I set my torque wrench to 130 inch pounds, and proceeded to torque the breather. As I was tightening the left side I heard a pop and thought I broke the bolt! Upon further inspection I found this little piece in the picture sitting by the spark plug. And some oil drip along that area. I took the bolt out and they were fine. Apparently some oil had Seaped down into the breather bolthole and when I torqued it it popped the bottom of the metal off! so it looks like I'm going to need a new head.... Unless that was just the machining to the bottom of that bolt area and oil does not flow there. Any thoughts?!

I checked the new kit bolt length to the originals that I took off and they are the same. I have half a mind to just put it together and see what happens!

Lesson learned I'm not too upset about it but I wish it was written somewhere to evacuate the bolt holes to ensure no oil has Seaped down there.

 

[sj01fltri]

What has happened is when there is too much oil in the hole you have created hydraulic pressure in the hole and it is amazing what that kind of pressure can do.Can the piece be welded back on.Unless you can seal the threads its going to leak more than likely.You may be able to clean the hole then find a good thread sealer to coat the threads with,worse case you will have to remove the head.

 

[sj01fltri]

You may want to remove the bolts from the front head and clean the oil out of those holes,if they are full of oil they could be giving you a false torque reading.

 

[FLTRXpilot]

You may want to remove the bolts from the front head and clean the oil out of those holes,if they are full of oil they could be giving you a false torque reading.

Or worse yet.... Pop when the engine gets hot! Good thoughts... About a bad problem! I'll check the front tomorrow. I know of hydraulic lock and pressure... Just didn't think about it. Cleaned everything well but didn't think about the holes!

I don't think it can be welded. It's such a small piece. Just the machined end of the breather threads and its boss. I might do the thread locker route.... I'll sleep on it :-/

Thanks for your posts sj01fltri.

 

[ironmark]

First thing you should do is do a compression check. Finish putting the rockers assembly together and leave the rocker cover off then do a compression check. If your compression is good then you shouldn't have anything to worry about. There may be a possibility that you could get some oil seepage there though but you will just have to wait to see if that's the case. I would clean the threads good and use some blue loctite to seal the threads just in case
It looks like the bolt was bottoming out in the hole looking at the broken piece. That why I don't use a torque wrench I can tell when something isn't right a lot easier when doing thing by hand, by the way it is only 10 to 11 ft lbs of torque which is just a good snugged up bolt.

 

[FLTRXpilot]

First thing you should do is do a compression check. Finish putting the rockers assembly together and leave the rocker cover off then do a compression check. If your compression is good then you shouldn't have anything to worry about. There may be a possibility that you could get some oil seepage there though but you will just have to wait to see if that's the case. I would clean the threads good and use some blue loctite to seal the threads just in case
It looks like the bolt was bottoming out in the hole looking at the broken piece. That why I don't use a torque wrench I can tell when something isn't right a lot easier when doing thing by hand, by the way it is only 10 to 11 ft lbs of torque which is just a good snugged up bolt.

Yea, it looks like a divot in the bottom milled ball area but I ran the bolt through the threads without the breather assembly and looked/felt for the bolt end and couldn't feel/see it. That plus the oil on the fins and in the caviety says I hydrolocked it..
But I like your idea of a compression test just to be safe. Can I do that in 5/6 gear and spin the rear wheel for the revolutions needed? Otherwise I need to plug in the main fuse again and make sure the ACR is disconnected and the throttle blades are open. Not a biggie since all the oils are in but just seems better turning the rear.... Even though that cylinder will create compression and be harder to turn...

 

[FLTRXpilot]

Thinking about the compression test I got all my equipment together and found I have no 12mm fitting on my gauge (it was for my cars).... I'll get that tomorrow and hook the battery/fuse up and do the test. After thinking about it I realized how silly I would look trying to roll the rear wheel and watch the gauge and keep the bike in the wheel chock !

I went ahead and did my JB Weld fix and it should be dry enough tomorrow. If there is a crack in the rest of the head or somehow pressure getting to that area I have a call out to an online dealer for a replacement as well as some watches on likely replacements on FleaBay...

 

[rickb_83161]

How did this turnout?


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[FLTRXpilot]

How did this turnout?


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It's still a cliffhanger... I had to order an adaptor off amazon... Went to 5 places here and finally gave up! The bikes still all in pieces and without exhaust since parts are still at the coaters. It will be next week before I can fire her up but I think there will be no problems. The JB has set nice and hard and the more I read the more confident I am about it. I'll report