For those of you that missed the first part of this hop-up project, you can visit baggersmag.com and read the complete article, but here’s a brief recap.
Our friend Oscar has a 2002 Road King with more than 60,000 miles. After tearing into the top end for an intended big bore hop-up, it was discovered that the flywheel assembly had shifted and was out of true, requiring quite a bit more work than the projected top-end hop-up. After inquiring with S&S it was determined that the stock flywheel assembly could be replaced with one of the company’s 4-3/8-inch flywheels with no case modifications or machining. On top of the flywheels, Oscar went with S&S’s 3.97-inch bore 97/106ci cylinders and piston setup. Basically with the stroker flywheel and big bore kit, Oscar was going to bring his Road King up to a modern and more respectable 106ci displacement, sitting between the 103s and 110s the Motor Company is currently putting out. Best of all, the combination of components is pretty much a bolt-in affair and is a much cheaper solution than taking on a brand-new bike payment.
To complement the stroker flywheel and big bore kit, Oscar also picked up a set of S&S 585 Easy Start cams. The addition of the high-lift cams did require some light clearancing on the right side case half around the lip of the main bearing housing and the underside of the tappet housings. With all the work being performed at Oscar’s local dealership, Los Angeles Harley-Davidson of Anaheim, service tech Kevin was able to easily perform the necessary case modifications with a Zippers Twin Cam Relief Tool. Last issue we left off with Kevin having just performed the case clearancing and so we will pick up from there.
01 Here we see Kevin prepping the right-side main bearing for installation into the case half by applying a light film of oil to the main bearing housing surface and the outer surface of the bearing.
02 The right-side case half was then laid in the press bed and Kevin slowly pressed the bearing into the case. Once installed, Kevin checked to make sure the bearing was centered in the case, then installed the retaining ring.
03 Moving to the left-side case, Kevin lubed and pressed the inner bearing race into position.
04 Next, he moved his attention back to the right-side case half and lightly oiled the inner cam bearing housings before installing new inner cam bearings.
05 The S&S cam kit included upgraded Torrington needle roller inner cam bearings. On the left is a stock INA bearing and on the right is a Torrington bearing. As you can see the Torrington bearing has more bearings providing more surface area and durability as compared to the caged INA bearing.
06 Kevin used the H-D Inner Cam Bearing Removal/Installation tool to press the new bearings into place.
07 Here are the new bearings installed and Kevin applying a light film of lubricant to them.
08 After getting the case halves completely ready for reassembly, Kevin then began working on setting up the crankshaft end play. He first used a dummy shaft to find out which size shim between the inner and outer bearings was needed to achieve the specified 0.001-0.005 inch of bearing endplay. Kevin prefers to come in at a final measurement of about 0.003 inch. To accomplish this when setting up the dummy shaft, he aims for the high end of the specified measurement because he knows once he presses everything together, the shim will swell up and he will lose 0.002 inch leaving 0.003 inch of end play. Here we see the inner bearing on the dummy shaft followed by a 0.106-inch shim.
09 Kevin slipped the right side case half onto the dummy shaft followed by the outer bearing.
10 He then tightened it down and…
11 Installed a dial indicator on the assembly, then pushed down and pulled up on the case to check the end play. The end play was out of spec of what Kevin was looking for.
12 Kevin pulled the assembly apart, installed a 0.116-inch shim and checked end play again. The 0.116-inch shim gave him the amount of end play he was looking for.
13 Even though they were brand new, Kevin wanted to double check that the S&S flywheels were true before installing them into the cases. The flywheels were placed in a truing stand, then Kevin turned them and watched the indicators (only the right side is visible)) at either end. As expected, everything was good.
14 The flywheel was then secured in an assembly jig…
15 …and then the inner bearing was slipped over the shaft and slowly pressed into position.
16 The 0.116-inch shim was then slipped on top of the bearing…
17 …and then the left-side case half/outer bearing assembly was slipped over the shaft and slowly pressed together. Kevin re-checked the end play and it fell within spec.
18 Before installing the right-side case half, the stock piston jets were swapped out with some S&S units.
19 Due to the increased stroke of the new flywheel and the larger pistons, an S&S Piston Jet Cooling Kit ($48.95) was utilized to avoid the pistons from possibly contacting the piston jets. The kit comes with two piston jets, O-rings, and screws.
20 Here is a comparison of the new S&S piston jet (left) and the stock piston jet (right). As you can see, the S&S jet is much shorter. The S&S jet provides an additional 0.150-inch of clearance between the jet and piston skirt. The new jets simply screw in place of the stock units.
21 With the piston jets swapped out, Kevin installed new O-rings on the right-side case half and then applied a layer of high-performance gray sealant along the cases mating surface.
22 He then applied some thread locker to the case bolts…
23 …and some engine assembly lube on the right-side main bearing.
24 A guide was placed over the shaft…
25 …and then the right side case half was placed over the flywheel assembly and left-side case half and the alignment dowels/holes were aligned.
26 With the cases aligned, Kevin then installed the bolts and properly torqued them to spec.
27 And with that, the stroker flywheel was now resting in its new home within the cases. Kevin then set the lower engine half in the frame and aligned it with the transmission. We will leave off at this point. Check back next issue when where continue to rebuild this engine.