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Cleaning My 40 yr old Cylinders and Heads!

32K views 117 replies 35 participants last post by  2Loose 
#1 · (Edited)
Pulled apart my '62 pan motor, first time it's been apart in 40 years, have owned it for 42 yrs, have been trying to clean it up, and the black crap baked on the cylinder fins and heads is really stubborn!

Have tried gasket remover, and oven cleaner, with limited success, scrubbing with a wire brush with the oven cleaner gave the best results, but can't get in between the fins with the wire brush to thoroughly clean it. Maybe if I could find a smaller wire brush that would fit down between the fins........

I had those barrels metal sprayed with an aluminum finish in 1970, it has lasted well all these years, but as the motor aged and has some small leaks here and there, if I didn't keep it scrupulously clean it got baked on! Parked this bike in '92 with tranny problems and lots of leaks, when I picked up a '91 FXDB (Sturgis Special) and started riding that every day, but am now restoring the '62 (slowly, and carefully), and trying to get the jugs, heads and cases really sparkling clean! Not polished, that's not me at all, just clean.....

Am hesitant to do a glass bead job, which I am sure would clean them up, but might also take off that metal spray finish, which I want to keep!

The jugs are 0.060" over bore, and I can't find more than 0.001" taper in the cylinders, and there is no ridge to cut, so am just going to hone, put in new rings, do a valve job, and go with it! The bottom end is solid! Been running a .468 Sifton solid cam all those years, just going to leave it and see how she runs!

Always ran AeroShell straight 50 weight, and always warmed up the motor before getting on it, it paid off, the motor looks great inside!

Anyway, enough rattling on, looking for IDEAS on how to get these jugs/heads sparkling clean, anyone out there got suggestions???

Much Aloha,
"2Loose" Willy
 
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#2 ·
Here's how it looked after pulling the heads off...
(this after about 22 years of almost daily operation, about 60,000 miles, ya don't get to go far living on an island...)


And after a session with some gasket remover....
It's a little cleaner, but I'm going to keep working on it...


Link to more pix (scroll down to bottom)
Aloha,
Willy
 
#3 ·
Willy!

Aeroshell RULES!

But this may be one time when the motor knows best, and you should only clean what comes off easy.

More History has been destroyed by "restoration" than will EVER be preserved.

Seriously.
Well, it would be serious if it weren't for that belt thingy.
Nevermind. Blast the bitch.

....Cotten
 
#6 ·
......if it weren't for that belt thingy.......
Hey, I put that belt drive on in at least 1972, maybe '73, and ran it all over a goodly portion of the lower 48 in 1975, and a good portion of Canada, so it is a piece of history also, a Primo Belt Drive, used to eat my left pants cuffs if I didn't remember to roll 'em up....
And no, I never was tempted to stick my fingers in there....
Yeah, I think I am just going to "ovenoff" and wire brush the edges of the fins, and leave it with the "history"....
It was running great when I last shut it down, just the tranny, spokes, wheel bearings slowly going south, cracks in the original frame I chopped, have fixed all that, the motor should be good to go with a simple hone job, new rings, and a valve job, and of course new gaskets, will post pix of the first run when it is back on the road....
Aloha,
Willy
 
#5 ·
I was going to suggest soda blasting as well. From what I understand soda blasting is really the way to go nowadays. They use baking soda which is not nearly as abrasive to the metal and it is more environmentally friendly as well. I can't attest to how pricey it is but for this kind of job I would think that it would be money well spent.
 
#16 ·
Why? Soda should be bio-degradeable.
ROOkie!

I don't make the rules, whether EPA restrictions or zoning.
They make them up as they go.

Twenty years ago a State Police Inspector put his finger in my face and said if ever caught me with a spray gun he would march me up the street to the jail.

And Illinois bureaucracy has only gone from bad to worse since then, especially now that it has run up a thirteen billion dollar deficit, and don't look now but guess what political machine runs the White House.

....Cotten
 
#18 ·
If that oil had only dripped off when it leaked, it would be fine. But now that it is burnt-on cylinder grunge, it is unsafe?

And what ground is it falling on? Outside my shop is asphalt. Isnt it dangerous, all the petroleum product just laying there?

Anyways, a handheld soda blaster will do the job and do it well without damage to the parts. Wear a nuisance dust mask and have a box fan close by to move the cloud. Rinse well with soapy water.
 
#19 ·
'62 RULES !! God Bless ya', Bro" !!!! I have been riding the same '62 for almost 44 years now ! My Dad,( God Rest him!),bought her in '68 and named her Nellie Belle.I was 13 the first time I rode her, and he gave her to me in '72 when I graduated High School!I have over 78000 since the last top end rebuild,done in the mid '90's, I think ! I will be doing valve and bore soon, but I really hate to tear her down, she starts and runs SO GOOD !!! But, she's smoking at idle from the front cylinder,so I have to! It's great to find someone that has had a '62 on the road nearly as long as Nellie and I have been !!! ( I just posted some photos on here!) Ride Safe, and God Bless !!!
 
#20 · (Edited)
Thanks for the comments JB, my '62, "Ol Red", is my first HD, had a Honda Super Hawk when I got outta the Army, then traded that for a '62 BSA Lightning. Was riding the Lightning over on the big island in '68 or '69 with some buddies when I ran into a guy riding this '62. He had bought it at a Honolulu PD auction and bobbed it, but wanted to sell it in order to get the money to buy an Indian he had run across, so I bought it and chopped it. She served me faithfully for many, many years, but had a hard 60,000 or so by '92 so I stored her in my shed and bought a used '91 FXDB (Sturgis Special) I had run across. Still have that one, pretty much wore her out also, so parked her and will do a resto when I get "Ol Red" back on the road....

I took Ol Red on one mainland trip in '75, shipped into Oakland from Maui, rode along the Coast to Canada, across Canada, taking in Jasper Park, Edmonton, Winnepeg, then down to the HD factory in Milwaukee, down to Nashville, and back across via Des Moines (family), Reno (more family), and back to Oakland where I shipped her home. Ran into a club in Edmonton (Rebels M/C) and partied with them, and rode across to Winnepeg with them, partying along the way, had a great time!!!

Ol Red never let me down on that trip, only problem I had was in Jasper Park, where it got so cold that night that in the morning the 50 wgt oil was so thick, I couldn't kick 'er over hard enough to get the Joe Hunt mag to light a fire!!! A local guy gave me a tow with his pickup (risky with any bike, but especially with a 16 over front end!!!), skidded the tires in the first three gears, but she fired off in 4th and I was able to get on my way, never had a problem after that on the trip!

Here's some pix of the pistons. I never saw any evidence of burning oil, she did run rich though. I spent some time trying to tune that out of the old Linkert carb, but she seemed to run her best when she was running slight rich (could smell the fuel), so eventually I just left it that way. I think the carbon buildup on the pistons is fuel, but some bit of oil consumption could be involved also. Can anyone tell the difference between oil consumption and rich fuel burning looking at those piston crowns???

Front Piston, front side....


Front Piston, back side....


Rear Piston, back side....


Now I gotta pull those pistons and clean them up. Ordered a set of .050" over OEM style rings to fit back in there after honing the barrels. The pistons mike out at stock plus 50 or so close I can hardly tell any diff....
And the barrels are only showing max 0.001" wear on the thrust side...

I think she's good to go once I get 'er cleaned up and back together...
Aloha,
Willy
 
#21 ·
2Loose!

Please note the angle of the wear streak upon your piston skirts.
Your rods are either enormously worn, or bent, or both.

All rods should be re-straighten'd after every re-build anyway, so it will all come out in the wash of a thorough overhaul, as well as the tuning and oiling issues of course.
But please leave no stone unturned.

Good Luck!

....Cotten
 
#22 · (Edited)
Cotten, I really appreciate the comment, I wondered about that when I pulled the jugs off, but as I'm not a well versed guy on the HD setup/rebuild, wondered if it wasn't just an anomoly of the harley rod setup at the wheels (crank)! Yes, it doesn't look right to me either, but whatta I know? Running my mike up and down inside the jugs, taking left to right and fore/aft readings, at least 6 or until I got the same reading at least 3 times in any one location, I just couldn't find any real wear in the cylinders, so was thinking "hey, it all looks good....!!!

Not sure if there is anyone in Hawaii I would trust to take my rods to for straightening, the HD dealer out here is a dud, just wants to sell bikes as far as I'm concerned! Not really capable of anything beyond parts swapping and periodic servicing....

Didn't want to get that far into this motor, I have another motor, my '59 FLH stroker, that is fully torn down and has all new parts to put it back together (93" S&S "Sidewinder" parts, 4.5" stroke by 3-5/8" bore, cases already reworked to take the big bore jugs and longer stroke, and a set of STD pan/shovel bolt pattern that fit the S&S jugs), am considering maybe I should just put the '59 motor together and run that for now (had other plans for the '59), and then later get into the '62 motor more thoroughly and do the job right!

To quote my old Dad, and paraphrase you: "Leave no turn unstoned...."
Aloha,
Willy
 
#23 ·
Cotten, here's another thought, could my wheels (crank) be out of true side to side enough to apparently run ok, but move the rods side to side in such a way as to create that wear pattern on the piston skirts?

I just spent an enormous amount of time with an old HD racer/motor builder setting up the 4.5" wheels for the 93" motor, and it took a lot of effort to get it completely trued up both side to side and up and down! Amazing what a big lead hammer and a pry bar can do to "adjust" those HD (S&S) flywheel assemblies!!!

Laters....
Willy
 
#48 ·
Cotten, here's another thought, could my wheels (crank) be out of true side to side enough to apparently run ok, but move the rods side to side in such a way as to create that wear pattern on the piston skirts?

I just spent an enormous amount of time with an old HD racer/motor builder setting up the 4.5" wheels for the 93" motor, and it took a lot of effort to get it completely trued up both side to side and up and down! Amazing what a big lead hammer and a pry bar can do to "adjust" those HD (S&S) flywheel assemblies!!!

Laters....
Willy
You probably just destroyed the alignment of the crank. The crank assembly does not care if the flywheels wobble around the mainshafts are the part of the crank that needs to run true.They will not run true if the flywheels are skewed off from each other but will run true once the mainshaft/crankpin alignment is correct.Due to manufacturing tolerances flywheel wobble /runout can be quite considerable even with brand new and especially aftermarket cranks yet the shafts will run true
 
#24 · (Edited)
Attacked the cylinders yesterday with oven cleaner and a couple of wire brushes, got 'em clean enough that they look pretty darn good!



Here's the bike progress so far, need to get the motor done and in so I can set up (weld on) the brackets for the exhaust, check clearances for the kickstand against the belt drive, couple of other things, then tear it down, bead blast the frame and tank and paint everything, and put 'er back together....


Pulled out my buddy Johnny W. and had a celebratory toast!!!
The tank and frame are "new" old stock from the back of the storage shed, everything else came off my old bike, dating back to the late 60's/early 70's....

Now to take a good close look at the piston and rod issues....
Aloha,
Willy
 
#25 ·
Looking at that piston skirt pattern with an old HD racer he says it's "within limits" for a '62 "police special", and not to mess with it........
so I have a new set of '60 over rings, will check the end gap, and will hone the barrels first, then check the ring gap, then put it back together.......
Gotta get all that carbon off the piston crowns, working on the best way to do that, any ideas out there???
Apparently the allowable "off center" motion on the flywheel assembly in '62 allowed for just such a pattern as we can see above on those pistons, after all it ran solidly for 60 k miles or so in that configuration with no problems, the problems started in the tranny after I put a belt drive on it (many years ago) without any kind of tranny shaft support, the tranny was puking oil non stop with I shut 'er down and parked 'er, but she's my first "love" on 2 wheels, so gonna revive 'er like I shoulda the first time.....

The biggest problem with gettin my ol girlfriend "big red" out and back on the road is the 55 chevy gasser I'm workin on, shes damanding alla my time to make the April drags here on Maui....
Ahhhh, lovin more than one mechanical woman is hard on me....
Aloha,
Willy
 
#26 ·
I used a Paasche Air Eraser to decarbonize my combustion chamber. Looks like an air brush, acts like a precision sand blaster.

I used 220 grit powder, cheap at HF. Keep the tool moving once an area is clean, and wash the parts well after you're done. Maybe a few passes of 1000 grit wet sanding to slick things up, if needed.
 
#28 ·
Re: Got a solution for ya...

Just fought this same battle.

Aircraft paint stripper will take that crap off of everything, including the carbon in the combustion chamber and pistons, and outsides of the parts. I tried everything in my shop, and most things would barely make a mark.

If you give that paint stripper plenty of time, and do multiple passes, and scrub with a non-plastic brush, (stripper eats plastic) it will come out like new. Rinse it off with hot soapy, then clear, hot water.

The best news is, there will be NO spray media left to have to worry about cleaning from the parts. My training in IHC, Cummins and Detroit Diesel taught me to NEVER media blast any internal engine parts. Not to mention a couple of bad experiences.

Them pistons are not burning oil. If they were, the oil would have dissolved the carbon from around the outside of the piston crown. As far as the crazy diagonal wear pattern, it can't be ideal, but I have found that in many engines of several different types, over the years, seemingly with no ill effect.

By the way, I discovered that the oil that wormed it's way between my cyl. head fins and scorched on there, was coming from the top of one pushrod tube.

Good luck with cool biscuit pan!
 
#30 ·
Re: Got a solution for ya...

Aircraft paint stripper will take that crap off of everything.......
Very cool suggestion, now, where can I find this stuff, asked around here with no results....

Good idea on the S&S wristpin buttons, will definitely check that out...
Aloha,
Willy
 
#31 ·
Using the buttons over the clips in this case would be masking the problem.

Looks clear that the rods are not straight as has been offered.

Given that it's piss easy to check and adjust the rods, why not just do it?

Special tool #HD3875XXWTF???? (otherwise known as a three foot piece of round stock) will straighten them right out. There are even pics of how to do it in the original service manual.

You'd hate to see the rest of your work go to waste. And if you're like many of us you're gonna be wondering about that decision instead of enjoying yourself every time you're out on the road.

Jason
 
#32 ·
Jason!

You are absolutely correct that buttons will not rebuild a rod!

Unfortunately the slop most likely is wear from high mileage, and straightening alone won't help much.
And doing it in the cases is a last-ditch "field repair" at best.

Willy!

You can measure your rods for bend as shown in the attachment.
It only takes a couple of parallels and feeler gauges.

But frankly,
you better tear her down and do her right.
If you intend to keep her, right?
Any stone unturned hides something that will bite you.

....Cotten
 

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#33 ·
Cotten said:
Unfortunately the slop most likely is wear from high mileage, and straightening alone won't help much.
And doing it in the cases is a last-ditch "field repair" at best.
I was under the impression that he was rebuilding the motor.

Guess I didn't read closely enough.

Was wondering why someone would go to trouble to rebuild a motor and not check the rods for straightness.

Jason
 
#34 ·
Jason!

That was before an "old racer" told him it was 'within specs'.

Of course, all re-built rods should be re-straighten'd for 'bend', and re-aligned for 'twist', before they are magnafluxed and de-Gaussed prior to installation between the flywheels.

Polish'n'peening would be nice too.

....Cotten
 
#37 ·
Pusher!

You do not want metal particles attracted to your rod races!
De-magnetizing moves the north and south poles of the rod to the middle.
You can determine if a rod has been polarized with a compass, but iron filings on a sheet of paper are more dramatic.

....Cotten
 

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