48 teardown build

[48emodelpanhead]

Tore down my 48 e model back in March. I had switched out the engine cases back in the 90s because I had cracked them and at the time I didn't know anyone I could trust welding the aluminum cases. I since had them welded and the voltage reulator mount reinstalled. Was running a magneto when I bought it. I also wanted to install a it in a wishbone frame. Frame I had on it was a late model swing arm with a weld on hardtail. Originally set up for a 6 over front end. It had about 2 inches of clearance that I wanted to get away from.

[DeeDay]

Great Pics, 48.
Thanks.

So what is the back story on it?
Where did you get it?
How long have you had it?

[48emodelpanhead]

I bought it on St. Patrick's Day 1980 in Louisianna. It looked like the bike Dennis Hopper rode in Easyrider. Got it from a guy who had a shop and a dragbike. Wanted to sell it to buy a race transmission for his dragbike. Dragged it around to several states with me. I'm currently on my second set of cylinders on it. Ran the upside down bannana clip on the rear for years. Since it was my only rider I wanted to be able to stop. Wander into a bike shop in KCMO back in the early 90s and scored the front end and that started my mission on bringing it back to stock. It has more repop parts on it than I like but I have to ride it not look at it in a museum. Picture of it back in 1984 after I did the first rebuild. I added the dual disc front end, S&S b model and put a mousetrap on it. It was orginally blue when I bought it.

[Vettster]

Very Nice!

[grouser]

looks like the welds came out pretty good,,,,

[pb68slab]

Did you have the mounting surfaces remachined correctly?

If ya didn't , the cases are just gonna come apart again.

[48emodelpanhead]

Had the frame welded by a guy in Baton Rouge. he did a real good job at it. He was a welder in the oil field. I'm going to keep the frame and see if I can pick up a shovel head motor and make a chopper out of it. The cases were welded by Don Sullivan at Hoghead. Did a real good job at it especially seeing the shape they were in. He did the machining on the mounting surfaces. I had to do some of th machining on the interior of the cases. I've got 74' flywheels installed and there was a clearance issue. Just machined off a little and it was fine.

[48emodelpanhead]

had to do a little machining on the interior for clearance and I had to line bore the c/c bushings. had a Sifton 440 cam in the engnie originally but something must of happenened to the cam and spacer because it had signs of overheat. Was planning on going to a B grind cam anyway so it wasn't much of a hiccup. Replaced the breather gear, it was an early model with the permenant mounted shim. Also went to replace the circuit breaker gear but the one I bought was width was wider so when I installed the cam cover it bound up the engine. had to take a step back and what I did was machined a new spacer that would give the circuit breaker gear a clearance of .004. Before it was .078. Had a shim in there but since I had it apart I decided to do it that way.

[48emodelpanhead]

Some more pictures of reassembly. I need to paint the frame. Any suggestions on type of paint to use. I've used Imron before with good results. Not a big fan of powder coating. If I get a chip with paint I can always touch it up, not so with powder coating.

[48emodelpanhead]

Got a couple more picture of the build. Some of the quality of the pictures is questionable. Must of had too much caffine when I took them. The frame had the later model toolbox mount that I took off. Ordered an early model from raceframes down under. Have to say it is very good quality. Had to do some modification on the fender. Some damage from a loose chain and where the frame clips/buddy spring/ crash bar mount was damaged. good thing I didn't throw out my sheet metal tools. The wheel I have on in these pictures in the old one. I just mounted it so I could roll it around in the garage.