Magneto Sportster's new 1953 K project (input appreciated!)

Production K Models

Magneto Sportster's new 1953 K project (input appreciated!)

Postby Magneto Sportster » Thu Aug 18, 2022 7:39 pm

Hello friends,

I would consider myself fairly knowledgable about pre-AMF Sportsters and have restored my share of them, but I am very green when it comes to K Models. That changes today.

ImageEFB84D53-29EC-4CF9-A214-BA3A5F78280E by Jerry J, on Flickr

After about 6 months of conversations, I finally purchased my friend's 1953 K Model project. He had the motor fully rebuilt (top and bottom ends) about 8 or 10 years ago by a very reputable motor guy in our area. He put the motor back into the frame, and there it sat, in that same condition, in his living room ever since. He collected a lot parts for the project, but it has never gotten past the "collecting" phase.

Here are the photos of what I bought home today:

Image87673CBB-50EC-4E55-B23E-1DB3C533090E by Jerry J, on Flickr

ImageCB584238-9DCA-4318-89D9-3AE095E12A18 by Jerry J, on Flickr

Image7AC36FC5-2251-4A08-AE74-A56783FDAE11 by Jerry J, on Flickr

ImageFA10BFA0-B424-4C4C-89D5-322D96D05C6E by Jerry J, on Flickr

Image950CEE5C-581E-4EE7-91F7-D46DCC662BD6 by Jerry J, on Flickr

Here are the parts that came with it:

The headlight shell, bezel, and sealed beam are all NOS

Image951AC212-52EA-450F-8137-3DA6871C0F3C by Jerry J, on Flickr

NOS Chainguard and "royalite" rear shock covers:

ImageB90BF823-11C3-4BA0-81CA-FC381EAB0EDA by Jerry J, on Flickr

Image68F05B93-E10D-4DDA-8FB7-476F3A885FD6 by Jerry J, on Flickr

Image080AFE8D-F2FD-40BC-B410-94FE68FF23E8 by Jerry J, on Flickr

19 Inch rims, front and back:

Image04FCDC07-3CD7-4A83-8724-CA9DB214E8DB by Jerry J, on Flickr

ImageE099DFD8-7388-45F5-937F-AB6FA864C6A5 by Jerry J, on Flickr

The following items are included with the sale, but are not pictured because I forgot to grab them today. I will be picking them up next week:
-Rear shocks
-Carburetor
-Oil tank
-Front fender

So here is where I am asking for your help: What is right, and what is wrong? What do you see that is NOT correct for this 1953 K? What parts are missing? What hard to find pieces will I need to find? Are any finishes on the motor incorrect? Please don't worry about hurting my feelings, my only concern is about getting this bike as close to 100% correct as possible.

Jerry Raino mentioned that 1953 may take the early style rear fender struts, but suggested I ask the group to confirm or deny.

Thank you very much in advance, and I appreciate any help or advice that the group can offer. My immediate plans are to gather all of the parts that I will need to assemble a rolling chassis over the winter, as well as pull the cam cover and have it blasted to match the kicker cover since I was told that polished cam and kicker covers were not offered in 1953.

Thank you!
-Jerry J (aka "Magneto Sportster")
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Re: Magneto Sportster's new 1953 K project (input appreciate

Postby starcain » Fri Aug 19, 2022 6:28 pm

Jerry, after a quick look through the pictures I'd say your starting out with a lot of good correct stuff. Some of the things I see right off is the lower valve covers should be cad plated. The cam cover as you mentioned should be sand cast finish but the rib through the middle should be polished. We believe there were some cad plated intake manifolds but we also believe that black painted ones were more the norm. The shift lever is incorrect. It should be threaded so no nut needed. The sprocket cover bolts should be slot head. Front motor mount bolts should be parkerized. The battery cover should have round holes instead of the oblong ones. The horn nut and mounting bracket are incorrect. The foot pegs should be parkerized. The generator is a later 1956 style with a stamped tag. It should have a mounted tag on it. So, that's what I see at first glance. I saved the pictures and will go over them a little better when I get the time. Stan
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Re: Magneto Sportster's new 1953 K project (input appreciate

Postby starcain » Fri Aug 19, 2022 6:40 pm

Forgot to mention that Jerry R is correct about the rear fender struts. There should be no flared area for the shock stud nuts. Makes it a little more difficult installing the nuts. They changed that in 1954
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Re: Magneto Sportster's new 1953 K project (input appreciate

Postby hennesse » Fri Aug 19, 2022 6:47 pm

Hi Jerry,

The biggest problem I see is in picture #4 - only one of the fork boots has been installed. ;--)

The buddy seat has the correct handrail, but the seat cover (and padding) is from 1956 to 1958 as it has the "lip" at the rear. Check out this Technical article on seats that never quite got finished. Click on the buddy seat in 1953.

The horn power-pak is the correct early one. I don't know why there is a replacement rubber - that didn't appear until much later. Maybe the mounting on the power-pak has broken spring steel "blades"?

The 1952-53 handgrips have different spirals from later models. I didn't see them in the photos, so look for them at your buddy's place.

Looks like a very nice project - it's pretty complete!
Dave
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Re: Magneto Sportster's new 1953 K project (input appreciate

Postby Magneto Sportster » Fri Aug 19, 2022 7:50 pm

hennesse wrote:
The 1952-53 handgrips have different spirals from later models. I didn't see them in the photos, so look for them at your buddy's place.



I thought 1953 was the first year for the newer style throttle spiral?

And thank you very much to everyone who took the time to review the photos and offer feedback, this is exactly what I am looking for.

Does anyone have a correct side stand that they would be willing to sell? I think that is the only part that I need for "phase 1", which is to get a rolling chassis together.
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Re: Magneto Sportster's new 1953 K project (input appreciate

Postby hennesse » Fri Aug 19, 2022 8:55 pm

Magneto Sportster wrote:I thought 1953 was the first year for the newer style throttle spiral?


You are correct. Sorry.
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Re: Magneto Sportster's new 1953 K project (input appreciate

Postby panic » Sun Aug 21, 2022 12:48 pm

W/r/t "He had the motor fully rebuilt (top and bottom ends) about 8 or 10 years ago by a very reputable motor guy"

Over the decades I've seen some reputable builders make serious mistakes. Samples not visible in an assembled engine include:
Sportster cams
45 pistons
45 exhaust valves
KH heads
[url="http://victorylibrary.com/L-BK.htm"]The Linkert Book[/url]
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Re: Magneto Sportster's new 1953 K project (input appreciate

Postby Magneto Sportster » Sun Aug 21, 2022 5:14 pm

panic wrote:W/r/t "He had the motor fully rebuilt (top and bottom ends) about 8 or 10 years ago by a very reputable motor guy"

Over the decades I've seen some reputable builders make serious mistakes. Samples not visible in an assembled engine include:
Sportster cams
45 pistons
45 exhaust valves
KH heads


I'm not concerned about that. I know the engine builder and previous owner, and they had a parts book and knew what they were doing. I have confidence in the motor, and if something ends up being wrong, it can be fixed.

Right now I'm just looking for an assessment of what I have and what I need.
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Re: Magneto Sportster's new 1953 K project (input appreciate

Postby Magneto Sportster » Sun Aug 21, 2022 8:05 pm

starcain wrote:So, that's what I see at first glance. I saved the pictures and will go over them a little better when I get the time. Stan


Stan, I really appreciate your reply as this is exactly what I was looking for! Finish issues are no problem to fix, so I will try to get the manifold and lower valve covers addressed while waiting to fix the cam cover finish.

Other than the shape of the holes on the battery cover, is it otherwise the same?

If anyone has a correct jiffy stand they would part with, please let me know.

Thanks!
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Re: Magneto Sportster's new 1953 K project (input appreciate

Postby starcain » Mon Aug 22, 2022 9:14 am

Jerry, Yes the battery covers are identical except for the holes. I believe they went to the oblong hole in 1955, maybe late 1954 when they came out with the trap door and changed the left side tie rod. The jiffy stand may be a tough one to find. Most of them probably broke due to the totally inferior head design. I included a picture of what one looks like just in case you didn't know. They used these stands from 1952 to 1955. I have an extra one that is really rough, been welded on and is quite pitted. It wouldn't be suitable for the type of restoration you're trying to do but if you're interested, I can send you a picture.

A couple other things I have noticed in your pictures, the primary filler cap that's in your primary cover is incorrect. Also, the handlebars that are pictured by the chain guard would not be correct for a '53. If those are speedster bars they shouldn't have any holes for a switch on the right bar. Also, to be correct the left bar has to have the horn and light switch in the correct positions. That got changed on the later speedsters.

I'm curious about your headlight shell. The 1952s and probably, or maybe, early 53s had the oil and generator indicator lights to the front of the shell. Sometime in 1953 they moved those to the back of the shell. It probably didn't take them long to figure out that with them to the front you couldn't properly see them. I have pictured confirmation that at least by motor number 2360 the indicators were to the rear. It could be earlier but have no verification of that.

I didn't see a voltage regulator in your pictures. The 1952s and 1953s used the smaller regulator that has a crimp-on cover instead of a screw-on cover and the terminals are straight instead of angled. If you don't have the earlier one you might want to start looking as these are also kind of hard to come across.

When you get your other parts, rear shocks, carburetor, oil tank and front fender, I would love to see pictures.

Any help I can provide, let me know.

Stan
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