56 Pan Shovel Conversion

Im Having A Tuff Time Getting Something On The Head Bolts.can Some One Help.its 12 Point And Cant Get A Socket Or Wrench On Em.is It A Special Tool.guys At The Harley Shop Dont Know Anything But How To Work On A Twin Cam.

I can't help either since I'm not a Harley mechanic, no experience. A comment on the industry, though. I run a MC repair for metric stuff here. I get a lot of old junk to work on none of the shops will touch. Now, "old junk" to me is stuff in the late 70s to early 90s that's been neglected. It's too new to rate as "classic". Not ment as a derogatory statement since I ride old junk, an 83 Wing. I found out that the local Honda/Kawasaki shop in Victoria won't work on ANYTHING older than 10 years! Sheesh! I mean, bring 'em in a 93 Wing and they won't touch it, 95, okay. Now, there's no difference mechanically in either bike and I reckon the parts will interchange! Just an arbitrary number I guess and I can sorta see it with stuff like sportbikes that are fresh off the CAD/CAM every few years and probably don't have a lot of parts support. But, it gives a small guy like me a niche. There are small shops around with good mechanics that will know that Pan. I'd seek one out if only for occasional advice. People stop by here with questions and I'm always happy to help 'em, give 'em a card, and tell 'em if they get into something they can't do to give me a call. Usually, I'll get the call. LOL Big Harley shops have gotten to be just like the Japanese, consider that old bike disposable and are only interested in selling you a new bike. Besides, even though internally little has changed on Harleys where mechanics are concerned, you can't expect the techs at a big shop to know a Pan the way they do the Evo and TC88 stuff. It's just been too long. How many trained Vincent mechanics are out there? But, you will find a small Harley specific mechanic's shop in most any larger towns somewhere that will know those older bikes and finding one can be a great resource if you have an older hog.

Check this out.

<https://www.directparts.com/cgi-bin/dp.store/EN/Product/20-157

This is discontinued but, you can get the general idea of the bends. Many of these have been constructed from a 12 point box end wrench and some rod stock and welded to a 1/2" or 3/8" adapter.