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[email protected] etpm@whidbey.com is offline
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Default 1939/40 Harley trans questions

On Sat, 13 Apr 2019 11:50:09 -0500, Terry Coombs
wrote:

It was oh so well fitted in the '39 tranny case ... the main clutch
gear/thrust bearing race . Had a perfect fit , rolled smoothly ,
everything was going oh so well . But then I found a 1940 trans that was
pretty much complete , and a lot of the parts were in better shape than
the '39 trans I had . Two factors influenced my decision to swap to the
'40 case , there's a (non-critical) piece broken off the '39 , and the
'40 has a spring loaded ball and detent system to lock the shifter drum
. So I pressed the race out of the '39 case and into the '40 . And all
at once the rollers didn't fit so well . Clutch gear wants to walk into
the case when rotated one way , out of it when turned the other . Turns
out the hole in the case is egg shaped , .0015" wider than it is tall .
So here's the question : I want to set the case up in the milling
machine and use my boring head to make it round . This will take about
.00075" from the top and bottom , and I'm worried I won't have as tight
a press fit as I think is needed . So I'm wondering if using a Loctite
sleeve retaining compound will be acceptable to keep things stationary .
Having that race spin in the case would be a Very Bad Thing ... My other
option , is to repair the '39 case and re-machine the shift cam plunger
hole to accept the '40 spring plunger assembly . Shift cams are the same
except for the locking area and will swap . I'm finally getting to a
point that I have room to work on at least the sub-assemblies to get
this bike back on the road . I'm not worried about "ruining" original
parts , this bike is a mutt anyway and a modified part that I can use
beats a broken part any day .

Loctite, the correct part number and used properly, will hold the race
in place. It can even help centralize the race in the hole because the
Loctite will try to form an even film on the race and bore surfaces.
Loctite has developed many new retaining compounds since I first
started using the stuff over 40 years ago. They now make at least one
retaining compound that works very well on bronzes. I have been using
#638 for the last few years when the parts are made from steel alloys.
You should check their website to see which compound is best for steel
in aluminum.
Eric