Noot

Al's Stroker Motor

My dad checkin' piston clearance, overlap, endplay . . . all the checks you make when building these motors. Al does his own final assembly.

My motor is a 1952. It has a hydraulic lifter "clean-out" filter screen provision cast into the cases, which is strange since the oil passages for the hydraulic lifters have never been drilled (under the tappet blocks). Panhead hydraulic lifters were moved from the pushrods to the tappet blocks in 1953. This clean-out screen was to filter debris from the lifters. The factory apparently started casting the clean-out into the cases in 1952? I have a clean-out that really doesn't function in the manner it was designed to . . . and since I run solid lifters, it doesn't really matter. Huh. Why do I dwell on such subjects????

NOS, New Old Stock

I keep seeing parts listed as NOS, which, to me - means new, vintage, unused parts of oem, original equipment manufacturer's origin. Made by the original companies like Harley-Davidson, Yamaha, etc. I feel that "NOS" can also be from Performance Machine, old Gary Bang, Crazy Frank, etc. But, now you got these bozos listing "NOS" and it's a Chinese part ! It's new, yes . . . but, it's Taiwan, India . . . come on ! If you are advertising a part as NOS for a vintage Harley . . . it should be USA. (If I'm restoring my Chinese bicycle from 1973, that's different.) The shaft above is the ultimate meaning of "NOS, New Old Stock." When I opened the UPS shipping box, and pulled back the bubble wrap, I was like - freakin' aye dude !

Gene(son) and Joe Smith

Smith set many 1/4 mile ET records.

Shovelheads have the potential to be incredibly fast.

. . . with a little help from my friends . . .

The countershaft (closed end) bearing boss of my KHK cases was cracked and oval. The bearing just falls out. Someone had tried to peen it in - it's just freaked up. McFarland spun out an inner aluminum sleeve for the ID - and he made an aluminum "donut" for the outside. Pat will weld all this up - creating a strong boss for the bearing. With both case 1/2s together, with the trans door installed - McFarland will locate off the door bearing ID - and then remove the left case 1/2 - and using this dimension, line bore the closed bearing ID - to leave about a .0025 press fit for my new closed-end bearing. Understand? I do, but I've been running this through my head for about 10 days now . . . brain strain !

The "New Way . . .

I just love my Newway Seat Cutter. The carbide cutters are adjustable, they give you the 46 and the 30 (just flip it over) and you can get a 60 degree too - and then you can achieve the seat width you want, and with some practice, you get a nice smooth seat finish by gradually decreasing the pressure on the spring-loaded handle. It makes cutting seats fun, and it's not so messy. I lap the valves in carefully with a low-speed drill (forward & reverse) and then hand-lap the final finish. This is my KHK racer cylinders with big, honkin' valves. They almost touch each other. She's factory-ported and I just dig these K Models !

Retro Rewind Dubuque - "Yes, it was a blast !"

I'd have to rate it as one of the best indoor events in the Midwest - Great to see everybody again and make some plans for Vintage Torque (also in Dubuque) 1st weekend of May . . . See ya'll soon.

Retro Rewind - 2015 - In case you missed it . . . ?

You really got to hand it to John Wells and his crew. If it wasn't for his psychotic mind and love of all things retro - we'd have less fun. This event is really super cool. Top quality rods and bikes. Top quality art, talent, music . . . everything is real spot-on and a professionally done deal. Mark your calender for next year - (time flies when yer havin' fun) and get on over to this "river town" venue and check it out !

Retro Rewind - Steve wins !

Steve received the prestigious SHOW CLASS Magazine "Pick" and won a couple thousand bucks, a free expense paid trip and some other cheesy shit . . . Congrats to you (and your girl too).

Retro Rewind - Friday Nite Thunder . . .

It was cool hearing all the hot-rods pull-in up the ramp as the place slowly loaded up with vintage steel. Those baby hemi motors with the straight pipes !