Sure is slow

[04customking]

What the heck? Is everyone on vacation or something? We need some action on this board.

[Little Al]

I'm trying!

lol

how about this:

I'm trying to swap out a shift drum from one tranny top to another. I had a hard time removing the drum shaft but finally got it out. Now for the life of me I can't get the gear that drives the drum off the lever in the old tranny top (this is a hand shift top). I tried freezing and a drift pin to knock the shaft out the top and off the gear, but no go, soaked with PO overnight, no go. no way to get a puller on it. Wanna try heating in oven but not sure of temp to use. or would I be better off apply torch heat to gear and/or shaft itself (say no, I can't find my MAPP torch) lol

[Pynzo]

Try a small "pickle  fork" like you use on automotive tie rod ends. I think Snap-On sells them in small sizes.

[Little Al]

good idea, gonna find my torch too though, I think some direct heat on lever shaft & gear will help rather then heating the whole top. I don't wanna break the old top, I bought two on eBay, one cover only, in perfect condition, then this one for the drum, lever & drum shaft. I'm gonna sell the old top on eBay and recover some of my money (yep, I'm cheap, lol).

[Pynzo]

Did you figure out whether your shift lever has to point up or down? You'll also need a leather washer between the lever and top. I've got a spare if you need it.

[Little Al]

guess I gotta look in the manual on lever position.

good news is I found my mapp torch before I left for work this morning. Also came across something I can try to pop the gear off the shaft with (after applying heat), it's from a valve removing tool, to compress the spring & retainer. taking it apart gives me a sort of mini tie rod wedge. Gonna give it a try tonight as soon as I get home.

[Pynzo]

Check the gear position on your shift gate. It should be from front to back 4-3-2-N-1. I'm thinking that the shift lever on the lid should be pointed down to achieve this pattern. Anyone out there know for sure? My arm was pointed down because I used a Jockey Handle on it. You had to pull back from Neutral to hit first gear, and push the lever forward to upshift.

[Little Al]

Well I'll be using a tank shift, not jockey. My shift gate is (starting from the rear) is 1-N-2-3-4. Just to be clear, pull back handle all the way to rear of bike is first, one click forward is neutral, each consecutive click forward is 2nd, then 3rd then 4th.

whew! so does anyone know for sure then? I'm not home from work yet so still haven't looked at manual, drum, tranny. Hell, I'm still waiting to get home and get the lever/shaft/gear out of the old tranny top!

[Little Al]

Mapp torch in hand, I got the shaft off the gear (without damage too!). The manual talks about timing gear marks on the gear and the drum gear and how they have to line up on re-assembly but I can't find any marks even after careful examination and cleaning.

I have time before I need to do this but thought I throw it out there now so the next time someone can post a picture showing the correct installed position I can get a hint.

oh well, at least I got it off and can sell the stripped top on eBay, allowing me to buy more stuff, lol

in the meantime, off to another part of the project, in a new post, just to keep the action going for Jim...

[Pynzo]

The timing mark on the shift cam is one of the gear teeth is beveled at a steeper angle than the rest, it should be almost inline with the seam in the cam. That tooth should be lined up with the notch inbetween the fifth and sixth teeth of the shifter gear, look closely and you'll find it. Mark them with a little silver paint, it'll make it easier to see when you put it together. Clymer's Panhead Manual says the shift gear timing mark should face the cover bushing, and the lever should point to the left hand side of the cover. The only picture in this book shows the lever with a jockey handle on it, and it is pointed down and to the left. Photos in Palmer's book look like the lever is pointed down on Pan handshift bikes.

[Speeding Big Twin]

That's correct. The lever points down on Panhead handshifts. Palmer says the change in shift pattern was first introduced on Big Twins for 1947. Al, you'll see the 1947-1964 style four-speed gate on page 326 of Palmer's book.     Eric

[Little Al]

On 326 I have a picture of the shift gates, that won't help will it?

on 307 there are 2 pics of removing the shift drum shaft, both appear to have the lever facing down (towards the ground when the top is in installed position) . The picture has the top upside down (they are working on it) and the lever is facing the sky. Again, in the installed position, looking from the left side of bike, facing down at about the 4 o'clock position. but this seems like a different tranny, maybe for a 45? I can't orient my top to look like the picture (damn, I'm confused)
On page 338 a clutch hub pic shows behind it the top of the tranny and the lever is facing up at about the 2 o'clock position. In the parts manual on the handshift parts page the lever is drawn facing up. (page 40)

In every drawing in the SM  (pages 158-159, 3 drawings) it shows the lever up at noon position. but the instructions say "with shifting lever pointed toward left" with no point of reference or what position the drum should be in at the point, but I'm assuming with the timing marks still lined up and meshed. but what does toward left mean?

In a pic from the HD museum of a '50 with tank shift the lever is facing down at about 7 o'clock and the hand lever is in 1st gear or neutral position, same on a picture I took at Rhinebeck last year of a '53

HELP!!!!

lol

[Speeding Big Twin]

Al, the reason I mentioned the photo on page 326 was for future reference regarding shift gates because I didn't know if you'd spotted that pcture. Yes, the two photos on page 307 are of a transmission for a 45" model.

The caption accompanying the picture on page 338 states that particular bike is a 1944 EL or FL so the lever points up. Beginning with the 1947 Big Twin the lever points down, as mentioned previously.

The lever is shown pointing up on page 40 of my 1949-1957 H-D parts catalog but that may be because it was shown that way in the 1937-1949 catalog and H-D just didn't change the drawing.

If the levers on the 1950 and 1953 models you mentioned were both facing down at about 7 o'clock with the bikes in either first gear or neutral then that would be about right. I had my jockey handle welded straight to the lever on my Panhead and it's shown below with the bike in neutral.     Eric

[Pynzo]

Al- holding your shifter top in your hand up in the position it would sit on the bike with the shift lever installed pointing down and to the left in Neutral (the three closest together ball indents are 1-N-2), almost 9 o'clock lever position will be 1st gear, 8 o'clock Neutral, 7 o'clock 2nd gear, 6 o'clock 3rd gear, 5 o'clock 4th gear. The tank shift lever moves forward from Neutral to upshift and back to shift from Neutral to 1st, and has a pivot mount on the tank with the shift rod below the pivot, from Neutral will pull the shift lever from 8 o'clock Neutral to 9 o'clock 1st, and then push shift lever from 9 o'clock 1st to 7 o'clock 2nd etc. The shift lever gear timing mark is nearly impossible to see when installed but it is located between the 5th and 6th gear teeth and should engage the chamfered drum tooth in 2nd gear. Is your shift lever hole threaded? Your bike needs the hole to be tapped for a 5/16-24 bolt, early lever holes are not.

[moose]

2 pics one lever all the way foward and one all the way back

[attachment removed after 60 days by system]

[Little Al]

You guys are the absolute best, seriously.

I've finally got my top together correctly and you guys get all the credit!

[Little Al]

glad I went back and re-read this thread:

Is your shift lever hole threaded? Your bike needs the hole to be tapped for a 5/16-24 bolt, early lever holes are not.

I never did check, better put it on the list to check before install.

Thanks again everybody for your detailed advice, that top was really throwing me at the time.