The Shovelhead Diary II

Saturday 4 November

Saturday November 4th we hit a milestone in the Shovelhead Project, the engine went into the frame and it's now looking like a motorcycle. Well; it's got two wheels, an engine and transmission anyway…

I was out there in the garage pretty early Saturday assembling the rocker boxes and mounting them on the heads. I was a bit concerned that with out another pair of helping hands the engine would sit on the bench for another week. Yes, I was scared to pick it up and set in the frame alone; with my back if something happened I could see a lot of money and time going to waste. I especially didn't want to scratch or mar the powdercoated frame; never mind, dropping the engine on the concrete floor and cracking the cases wide open.

About the time I was done with the heads, Estle showed up just in time and the engine slid into the frame without a scratch or mishap. With my best "Biker Build Off" engine lift and carry; I managed to set the engine into the frame with help from Estle's hands guiding it in place.

With temporary bolts holding the engine in place we used the inner primary cover to roughly align the engine and transmission together. I will check it again once we put the primary chain on and insure its all straight. We also fitted in the oil tank and the battery box. Now the real work of getting it wired and all of the plumbing connected can begin.

Its funny how we can find just about every part, nut and bolt we removed during the teardown, until we go to put them back. We hunted for hours and couldn't find the engine bolts to secure it to the frame. As soon as we get the new ones the old ones will show up; it happens every time. We have a new list of nuts and bolts to get during the week. It's probably better to use the new ones anyway; at least it will keep me off the wire wheel a little longer.

You may have noticed there are no push rods or carb installed yet either. That's coming up in next weeks. We have some nice new chrome push rod covers to install. The headers will be coming up soon too; yeah more chrome to set off the great looking black paint.

A lesson learned the hard way; the heads have to be on the engine before you set in the frame; at least the rear head and rocker box does. We were lucky that sliding the engine over allowed us to recover from our faux paw. The chrome battery box isn't quite the same as the old one. I personally think the black powdercoated one looks better; but, the chrome will look nice setting off all of the black paint.

We are now planning a spring date for light off and if we have good weather (warm Saturdays) it could be sooner.

Looking very motorcycle like... The baby blue head gaskets really stand out. The camera's flash really kills the shine on the aluminum parts.	Can't wait to see this engine completed and running... Still have more wiring and plumbing to do. I think it's time to send the sheet metal out to the painter.	Looks good this way too..	Rocker Box before rockers are installed
Rocker arms and shafts are in, one more nut and it's ready to go on the head.	Oiling and inserting the shafts...	Pressing the shaft home. The white thing is PVC pipe protecting the shaft end.	Another view on the press.
Setting the head down on the rocker box keeps the rocker arms from fouling on the valves stems.	We have to thank Flo for the pictures, when we get to working we never have time or think about shooting pictures. If we did we would have a picture of Estle lying on floor trying to find the transmission mount bolts.	Now to place in on the cylinder...	Rear head is done, waiting on the front head.

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