Shovel top end

I hear ya jb sometimes its like that people say that they are the best you go ahead and have them do the work pay them what they ask of ya . and you get chit work in return it sucks brother been there ! any how kirby is very fair talk to him . and if ya have to do it yourself we will be here to help ya with it dont sweat it it not that hard of a job.

Ain't that the truth...seen a couple where they said"oh yeah we can do that,and we're good...so i go check them out and they know less than I do and I would only class myself as a "half decent apprentice" and some may even argue that... LOL

Yep, joshbob if you sent your heads and jugs to Kirby you'd get back an absolute "no worries top end"

had the rear plug foul deal also...wish i could have shipped it to HRK like he offered (but i felt that he would have tried to talk me out of her before finished).
my fouling was due to broken valve guide seals.
anyway, let me hijack for a sentence or two. got my new engine gasket set, and
have heads and rockers off. oil was comming out everywhere. should i go ahead and pull juggs and redo the base gaskets ? am going to redo the nose cone gasket while its down also.

i guess we are doomed to many hours of wrenching with the SHOVELS.

good luck JB

Thanks. I've decided I'm not going to do anything till it starts gettin' cold around here. Havin' too good a time ridin' right now, and the bike runs fine. I did my nose cone gasket the last time I put in a new cam shaft seal. It was one of those metal sandwich types. I am still leaning toward doing only one head, though. I mean, the other one is fine and I just put a new copper head gasket on it. I have a hard time with fixing something when it ain't broke. I think I will put on new exhaust gaskets and a new set of intakes as well when I do this job.
I do not know what to advise you concerning the base gaskets . . . if it was me, and they weren't leaking before, I'd leave 'em alone.

Man, I had no inkling how many places a shovel could spring leaks! Shovel folklore says: if it doesn't leak, yer not riding it.

shovel are like pit bulls they lift there leg and mark the spot!

That's funny! I must say though, that mine hasn't left any spots on the floor for some time now. But there used to be puddles here and there - or were those piddles.

EIEIO, you say your problem was broken valve seals. What kind of material are they made of?

they were teflon seals...the only ones that said "no machine work needed". i didn't like them when i installed them...definately hate them now.

happy riding bro...i should be up and riding this weekend.

I am going with BP's recommendation and will install "Viton" type valve seals. If bushings need to be replaced, C6300 bronze type were recommended to me also. Hope you are riding soon, Buddy.

Then a compression test is in order. My FLH motor when brand new in '77 only had 90 PSI according to the service manual. I've not been able to get more than 70 - 75 readings out of my cylinders. But I did that check before I did any riding, before the rings had a chance to set in.

i was kickin mine with a fouled plug...screw that...sore for a week.

i would not want to kick that bastard with more than 100 psi!:roflmao: ill end up on the couch with an ice pack on my calf!:roflmao:

ill be more than happy to take a look at them when your ready

Thanks, Kirby. I'll contact you when I begin the tear down.

ill have to rember that one!!!

I'd advise taking off both heads and have them gone thru and done right. If not you will prolly have the same problem with the front head in the very near future.

defanatly do both heads

Okay, both heads it is.