Long term project...1934 Harley Davidson VLD

[Steve Slocombe]

You can disassemble the forks, carefully of course, by lying them flat on the floor and slowly loosening the top nuts. The nuts and springs will fly across the floor, so have something like a blanket for them to run into. Assembly is where you need the tool, but check elsewhere on this forum as a couple of ratchet straps have been known to work.

[aumick10]

This is what I used to work on my JD front end. You still need to be careful.
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[Kamyu]

Hey all,

Disassembly continues. Along with unexpected surprises!

Fittings on this bike chassis are surprisingly lubricated for as old as it is and the chicken coop it was found in. Most of the nuts and such are coming apart very easily.

Here's the current progress of disassembly:

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I'm almost thinking the original paint was white as that's what is peeking through the crusty flaking. You can see it near the head.

Original bearings were in the head. I'll have to clean them up and see what condition they are in but the cups look pristine and the bearing balls look pretty good too despite being covered in grease.

Rear wheel brake drum looks like it's in decent shape.

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And the teeth in the rear wheel look pristine for shape for as old as it is.

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Once I got the rear wheel off, I came across an unexpected surprise.

An original Corbin Speedo axle gear. ^_^v Sadly I don't have any of the rest of it. :P

image4.jpgimage5.jpg

Looks like the axles are in amazing shape as well and I'll know more about the wheel hubs once I get into them. But from the looks of how things are going so far, they might just be near pristine. :P

Definitely got a good rolling chassis.

~Kamyu

[Kamyu]

Hey all,

Slow progress, but a few milestones.

First off. The neck lock works! Got a set of keys from www.lostakey.net which was able to get them out right away. Definitely recommend them. Had to sand the tip of the key just slightly as it was a tad long, but once I did that, key slipped in and turned fine. Wish the lock had a grease fitting as it's a little sticky, but key turns easily enough and the lock moves.



Next up, I finally got the clutch basket off the transmission. That was a pain the butt. Clutch plates were gummed up with rust, dirt, oil, etc and did not want to move. Got the clutch puller tool for a VL and after a bit, the front plate came off. Didn't help someone removed the screws holding all the springs on sometime in the past. Got everything removed and next up is the nut holding the sprocket on. Just need to find a tool for that.

With the clutch basket removed, I could remove the plate which was attached to the ears and was finally able to open up the top to see inside the transmission. Now I'm no expert on gear wear, but to my untrained eye, those gears and shafts look really good. But chime in your thoughts. I'm not an expert on gear wear. Everything seems to turn and slide nicely.





Finally, started disassembling that Corbin axle drive. I showed before pictures, but here's one with some of the grime cleaned off. Can actually read the writing now.



That's all for the update.

Let me know your thoughts. Especially on those gears.

Later!

~Kamyu

[Kamyu]

A little update.

Finally finished disassembly of the transmission. Onto cleaning. So far just done some wipe down with paper towels and scraping dirt with some plastic picks. Need to give it a good scrub down in some hot water and dawn soap. But it's come pretty clean just wiping it down.




Debating how far to go with the rebuild. I plan on using a sealed bearing for the kicker side of the main shaft, but debating using a sealed bearing on the clutch side. Right now, I can reuse the existing setup and only need to replace the retaining ring for the roller cage. Everything else is in excellent condition. Plus, I can't remove the inner race from the gear without heat and I'm wary of putting heat to it. Never done so before and I don't want to damage things. No plans to cut a o-ring groove into the cluster gear shaft either.



In other news, the first bit of the restoration is complete. It's minor but I think it came out good. See earlier pictures for the before. It was really crusty before I overhauled it.

Here's the results:



Enjoy!

~Kamyu

[Peter Cooke]

If you're doing 1 sealed bearing you may as well do both. It takes very little heat to remove the inner race from the drive gear. I used one of those little plumbers propane torches and it didn't take much at all. And use 2 flat screwdrivers to apply upwards pressure.
You can use a core (welch) plug in the housing to seal the end of the cluster gear shaft.

[Steve Slocombe]

Nice looking gearbox. It looks like the main gear will go back in with oversize rollers, but many are putting in sealed bearings. The bearing collar does not always come easily off the main gear, and there was a Harley special tool for this which I've never seen. It looks like a tapered axe head with a big U-shaped cut-out to go either side of the collar. You can get similar leverage by stripping off the copper seal, putting the main gear teeth upwards in a bench vice, slipping two quarter inch/6mm rods or long screwdriver shanks horizontally in the top of the jaws, then tightening up and applying heat until the collar moves.

[daveymoe56]

Great fun and a adventure to ride.IMG_20190711_141649222_HDR.jpg

[aumick10]

Nice looking gearbox. It looks like the main gear will go back in with oversize rollers, but many are putting in sealed bearings. The bearing collar does not always come easily off the main gear, and there was a Harley special tool for this which I've never seen. It looks like a tapered axe head with a big U-shaped cut-out to go either side of the collar. You can get similar leverage by stripping off the copper seal, putting the main gear teeth upwards in a bench vice, slipping two quarter inch/6mm rods or long screwdriver shanks horizontally in the top of the jaws, then tightening up and applying heat until the collar moves.

A small bearing separator will do the same job. It will have just enough room to grip the bearing inner race.
Sit the seperator on a vice with the sprocket end up and sprocket nut installed.
Give it a light tap and it may fall out, otherwise some heat will be needed.

On another note, Does anybody know where I can get a VL high gear to convert my JD box. Pt no 2296-31.
Thanks

[Peter Cooke]

"On another note, Does anybody know where I can get a VL high gear to convert my JD box. Pt no 2296-31."

Keep an eye on Ebay. Harbor Vintage often list parts like that.