1968 Harley Davidson FLH
(before)
The following pages will show the restoration of my 68 Harley which will consist of painting the frame, tanks and fenders. I am also going the install a set of S&S 88 stroker wheels to make about a 95 cu in engine with 80 pistons and barrels.
Time to take my Harley apart, I installed several new parts in the summer
of '07 to give me a head start on the fit of the aftermarket parts. Now I will
strip all the parts off the frame and send the frame off to be sandblasted.
Click for frame preparation
Got the frame back in my garage, ready to assemble.
oh boy it already looks like my old motor cycle!
Front end installed, I will rebuild the forks later.
Click for engine build.
We had Kenny over for Christmas dinner, he wanted to hang out in the garage
as much I did. He gave me the thumbs up.
After receiving another shipment of parts one of the first things I wanted to do
was check the fit of the new extended kick stand. The kick stand I was a little
disappointed with as it is going to need a shim washer made for it to work
correctly. I also have my heads and barrels back from the machine shop, the
heads received new guides and the repair of the rear spark plug threads. The
standard size barrels only needed a quick hone to clean them up.
Wiring is always a time consuming project for me so I have been working on this
while the engine parts were being worked on. I am using new original cloth wire
loom material and rewiring the entire bike, installing a new terminal block
which fits behind the coil and new electronic ignition switch.
The front end will receive the spot lamp kit to finish off the lighting and
signals up front.
Here it is Running at last! I left the right side tank off for access to the
heads and pushrods for tuning. Good thing because I am not convinced the top end
is getting adequate oil to the rocker shafts. After a few spins of the start
with the plug wires off to get the oil moving I attached the plug wire and
the 91 cubic inches fired right up. I am very happy so far with the Mallory
ignition and the stock starter seems to crank the 4 3/4 stroker over ok. My
Harley funds are all but used up or I would have installed a high torque
starter.
Dick {on the right} and Jon came over Sunday to check out the FLH, Jon sold me
the stroker parts last fall and Dick sold me the Bike 29 years ago. Dick wants
the motor cycle back now, wants to trade me for his Springer Softail!
This is what they were lookin' at!
I have the starter system taken out waiting for a new solenoid and high torque starter, hopefully to solve a starting issue.
High torque starter upgrade
The adapter housing blots to the starter housing on the inner primary with two
socket cap screws.
comparison with the OEM starter
Installed manual starter switch. This works absolutely great!
Back together after reworking the starting system which includes the 925 series
Odyssey battery, I am going to have to rework the battery box some for the tin
covers to fit.
Next will be to install the
badlands signal module and battery monitor which will give me an indicator
light on my dash to show battery and charging system condition.
Time to finish the paint on the fuel tanks.
Suppliers of motorcycle parts S&S Cycle, Accel and Tedd Cycle
this page was last updated on04/26/2008