Christopher Malouf
~ Elite 1000 Member ~
Ahhh ... hunkerin' down!! I hear that. Can be real addicting.
Well, to answer the time-in question (hope ya got a minute Ron and Sharpgraver) ... I didn't keep track of the hours (my bad). I took the motor out of the crate after the Christmas rush and actually just torqued the last few bolts tonight. A lot of time was spent on powder coat removal and polishing. That was the most frustrating process of this project. Harley has this natural finish powder coating over rough cast on everything. I found the quality of some of the cast aluminum to be somewhat inferior to the older engines so I ended up using the oil filter mount off my old engine. That cut like butter compared to the new one. After spending way too much time trying to polish the new heads, I decided to shelve them and rework the heads off my old engine as well. The aluminum was much easier to cut and polish. The actual engraving time was probably about 3 weeks. If I had picked up a polished S&S or Revtech motor, I definitely would have been done long before now with far more coverage.
There's so much more I wanted to do which will have to wait till next winter: Complete the coverage on the rocker covers, polish and engrave the Harley tappet blocks (which I replaced with Jim's chrome blocks). The middle rocker cover (inserts) were to be anodized black and then bright cut (with "My Ol' Lady") but finding an anodizer is even harder than finding a reliable chrome plater.
I really expected the engraving to be a bit more difficult because of the size and shape of these parts. What really helped a lot was using a dual rotation setup. I've got the Magna block on top of one of GRS's turntables for microscope use. I just pulled the turntable and vise out from under the microscope and backed out the set screw on the vise so that both could rotate. No matter where I was on the piece, I was able to control the center of rotation. I never had to adjust the part once it was clamped in or nestled in the corncob bag which I use for large, odd shaped stuff.
Other than waking up at 3AM second guessing whether or not I shimmed the cam correctly and going into the garage in my slippers and shorts to tear it apart for a looksee .... it's finally done for now. Hoorah!!
This could actually be a lucrative venture. I might put 'er on Ebay with an outrageous reserve just fer kicks.
A bit of a lengthy answer but passing on some of the pitfalls to anyone that wishes to try this at home is always a good thing.
Thank-you again.
Chris
Well, to answer the time-in question (hope ya got a minute Ron and Sharpgraver) ... I didn't keep track of the hours (my bad). I took the motor out of the crate after the Christmas rush and actually just torqued the last few bolts tonight. A lot of time was spent on powder coat removal and polishing. That was the most frustrating process of this project. Harley has this natural finish powder coating over rough cast on everything. I found the quality of some of the cast aluminum to be somewhat inferior to the older engines so I ended up using the oil filter mount off my old engine. That cut like butter compared to the new one. After spending way too much time trying to polish the new heads, I decided to shelve them and rework the heads off my old engine as well. The aluminum was much easier to cut and polish. The actual engraving time was probably about 3 weeks. If I had picked up a polished S&S or Revtech motor, I definitely would have been done long before now with far more coverage.
There's so much more I wanted to do which will have to wait till next winter: Complete the coverage on the rocker covers, polish and engrave the Harley tappet blocks (which I replaced with Jim's chrome blocks). The middle rocker cover (inserts) were to be anodized black and then bright cut (with "My Ol' Lady") but finding an anodizer is even harder than finding a reliable chrome plater.
I really expected the engraving to be a bit more difficult because of the size and shape of these parts. What really helped a lot was using a dual rotation setup. I've got the Magna block on top of one of GRS's turntables for microscope use. I just pulled the turntable and vise out from under the microscope and backed out the set screw on the vise so that both could rotate. No matter where I was on the piece, I was able to control the center of rotation. I never had to adjust the part once it was clamped in or nestled in the corncob bag which I use for large, odd shaped stuff.
Other than waking up at 3AM second guessing whether or not I shimmed the cam correctly and going into the garage in my slippers and shorts to tear it apart for a looksee .... it's finally done for now. Hoorah!!
This could actually be a lucrative venture. I might put 'er on Ebay with an outrageous reserve just fer kicks.
A bit of a lengthy answer but passing on some of the pitfalls to anyone that wishes to try this at home is always a good thing.
Thank-you again.
Chris
