JerrryR wrote:Harley did not produce service manuals between 49 and 59. The first SM appears in 1959.
Yes, and the 1959 Service Manual only covered Sportsters - Harley apparently was trying to forget the K-models. There are only minor differences between the 1959 manual and the 1959 to 1969 Sportster Service Manual sold by various people on eBay. Pick yourself up one of those.
In the Literature section of this website, we have many (approaching most) of the Shop Dope Service Bulletins concerning both K-models and Sportsters. There's some important information there for K-models, particularly the engine fitting specifications, which you can't find anywhere else.
In the technical section of this website, we have many articles on different subjects. Many of the articles go in depth on the Ks, and lighter on the Sportsters, since K information is harder to come by.
From your photo, you're probably right to get it running rather than restore to original. You can spend a lot of money and a lot of years trying, but why? You'll have a lot more fun riding around on an incorrect bike than staring forlornly at a large pile of correct parts on your basement floor.