Introduction and a cracked head question
Posted: Wed Oct 12, 2022 6:19 pmHello all.
My name is Anthony and I live on Whidbey Island in Washington state, about an hour outside of Seattle proper - nice to virtually meet you.
Over the course of the past 20 years I've owned quite a few vintage bikes, including a 1934 VL, a 45, two Panheads, a Generator Shovelhead, a pre-Unit Triumph, a BSA Victor, and currently, a nice 1968 XLH that I am recommissioning (picture included). I am also in the process of piecing together a hot rod K model with a stroked motor and KHK cams. I'm fortunate to live 45 minutes away from Scott Lange, who sold me my XLH, and who is helping me with my K motor, and I'm at the point where I need to rebuild the top end of the motor. A few questions:
First, is there anyone here on the west coast, or even west of the Mississippi line, who is rebuilding these motors, and who could machine and rebuild my top end for me? Scott knows of a great resource on the east coast, but I'd like to keep costs down on shipping if possible.
Second, most of the heads we've found seem to have cracks in them at the spark plug holes, and I'm curious if it's imperative that these cracks be fixed, or if this is a "don't worry about it kid, just run 'em," type of thing?
Third, if the heads do need to be fixed, can you please recommend someone who can handle this repair well, and in a timely manner? From the reading I've done, a sizable piece of the head needs to be milled out and replaced, and then rethreaded for the spark plug vs. "just chasing the cracks around with a welder."
Thanks for your help, and in advance, for the answers to the many, many questions that I'm sure I will be asking here.
Anthony
My name is Anthony and I live on Whidbey Island in Washington state, about an hour outside of Seattle proper - nice to virtually meet you.
Over the course of the past 20 years I've owned quite a few vintage bikes, including a 1934 VL, a 45, two Panheads, a Generator Shovelhead, a pre-Unit Triumph, a BSA Victor, and currently, a nice 1968 XLH that I am recommissioning (picture included). I am also in the process of piecing together a hot rod K model with a stroked motor and KHK cams. I'm fortunate to live 45 minutes away from Scott Lange, who sold me my XLH, and who is helping me with my K motor, and I'm at the point where I need to rebuild the top end of the motor. A few questions:
First, is there anyone here on the west coast, or even west of the Mississippi line, who is rebuilding these motors, and who could machine and rebuild my top end for me? Scott knows of a great resource on the east coast, but I'd like to keep costs down on shipping if possible.
Second, most of the heads we've found seem to have cracks in them at the spark plug holes, and I'm curious if it's imperative that these cracks be fixed, or if this is a "don't worry about it kid, just run 'em," type of thing?
Third, if the heads do need to be fixed, can you please recommend someone who can handle this repair well, and in a timely manner? From the reading I've done, a sizable piece of the head needs to be milled out and replaced, and then rethreaded for the spark plug vs. "just chasing the cracks around with a welder."
Thanks for your help, and in advance, for the answers to the many, many questions that I'm sure I will be asking here.
Anthony