Blood, sweat, tears & beers . . .

But I've become attached to my butterfly baby!

Since I've drained the life's blood out of the Beast, I'll not be doing any starting for a while. A little while ago, I checked the oil leak at the stator cover and . . . yup, it had leaked a few more drops since last night just sitting there. I'm beginning to think I'm snakebit!!
I perused the J&P catalog and found 2 solutions to my problem: I can replace my old seal with a "dual seal" replacement seal for $2.99 or, get a Colony motor seal which they claim is a "must" for belt drive set-ups like mine. It's . . . gulp, $39.99. (See pics). I'm going to give the J&P techs a call tomorrow and find out what they recommend . . . . first, I'm going to have to borrow a micrometer from my buddy Mike and find out exactly what the shaft diameter is. No, first, I got to get the front pulley off . . . . There are so many things that have gone wrong . . . . I'm taking bets that something else will pop up before I get on the road. Any takers?

you know joshbob there are a lot of little tricks that the guys who do this everyday know that we don't.

That's true and I wish I knew some of them! Of all the knowledge I've gained so far fixing & wrenching the Beast, nothing that has gone wrong has happened twice yet! It's all first time problems. But I tend to look at it with a philosophers eye and try not get too upset when something goes wrong (well, most of the time anyway, Ha-ha)! Today is another day and I smell the coffee on the stove. Things always look better in the morning!

It is... and they certainly do!!!

You'll learn them as time goes on...you'll learn the personality of "The Beast" and both of you will become one...A big plus for you joshbob is having Tattoo Tony as an Ace in the hole to help you out if you get in a jam....

Tattoo has been very helpful. He's swamped with work right now so I'm not going to bother him for a little while. Since I still need to drop the front end about another 1" or so, (I have a Progressive Suspension lowering kit inside the tubes), that's what I'm going to do maybe this evening. I've dropped it several times already but it wasn't enough - I want the bike to sit as level as possible. I have to take the forks out of the triple trees to do it.
As far as anything else, I'm putting everything on hold until next week.

BTW, I've been keeping all this stuff on Blood, Sweat & Beers so I can copy the thread when I'm finished and make a little journal of the build.

Looks like I'm going to have to spring for a new oil pump. Found one in the J&P catalog for $420, made in America, and will bolt right in. It's the only one available that requires no drilling or other mods. Approximate riding date has now been changed to sometime in November. It starts getting mighty chilly by then.

Talked with a tech from J&P on my lunch break today and he recommended using the $3 crankshaft oil seal. He has a shovelhead and said it's best to go with the OEM replacement rather than the Colony seal. Gave me some tips on how to get the old one out & put the new one in. How about that!

Well, this morning when I had the dogs out, I heard a kitten meowing very loudly at our side door. Mac went and opened the door and the little buggar rushed in. We decided to keep it. I wanted to call the boy "Harley", but was out voted with "Buster", also a good name. Mac took the kitty to the vet and the only thing wrong with it was ear mites and a case of exposure. Now we have 2 dogs & 2 cats. Here's some pics of Buster.

I've gotta cat that looks just like Buster, She was abandoned at the warehouse I was working at. Her nick-name is "fuzz bitch" ha-ha!

What makes them good pets is that they're pretty independant once they've grown up. We keep our 2 dogs inside and so they must be taken out several times a day and walked everyday, too. When Buster gets old enough, he'll be going outside any time he likes, like our other cat, Mango the Mangler - we just put food out for the cats up on a dresser so the dogs can't get it!

I'll be getting the oil pump next month. This month it's gonna be: the engine breather/oil collector, an idle mixture needle repacking kit, dyna beads, 1/2 a dozen quarts of 20-50,Russell speedbleeders, a replacement oil seal for the crankshaft and exhaust pipe wrap.
See, it's always something.
Yesterday I took the front end off the bike and lowered it an extra inch. Now it sits level and 4" off the ground, but I had to take the gaiters off - they were so scrunched up they didn't look right anymore.

I don't think they can be cut shorter - they have a flange at both ends. I'm going to give them to Tattoo Tony - he admired them when they were on my bike and asked where I got them.

I just got a new gasket set from Rob's Used Harley parts and will see if they will stop the oil pump leak. If not, then I'm going to try putting a new cover on the pump. Found one in the V-Twin catalog that fits a '68 thru '91 pump and is around $50.
If that doesn't work, then I'll spring for a complete pump.

Well, new gaskets didn't stop the leaking. I think I'll take the $50 I was gonna spend on a new cover and put it towards a new pump. Yeah, $420 is pricy for an oil pump but if it works like its supposed to and doesn't leak, it'll be worth it.