68 FLH Top End On A Budget – Lifters and Heads
Picking up where I left off from my last post, jugs and pistons, I assembled the rocker boxes to the newly reconditioned heads. The head job included new valves, guides and springs. After the torque down of the new head bolts to 65 ft. lbs, it is time to install the pushrods and covers. Following the manual for the pushrod assembly, it says nothing about bleeding down the hydraulic lifters.
This is a tip I picked up from an Arizonian friend that just happened to be in my garage this day.Following his instructions, I took a small drill bit and mounted in a vise blunt end up, then slid the lifter over the end of the bit to release the check ball to bleed out the oil by pumping the lifter piston. This is also a good time to double check the lifters as covered in the manual. These parts (lifters and pushrods) have to be kept separate, and get assembled in the same positions as they came out. After bleeding down the lifters, the pushrods with the covers can easily be installed, as per the instructions in the factory manual.
Now for the time consuming part of the job, reverse order of stripping the motorcycle for repair. (Put everything back together the way you took it off)
Stay tuned……….
Cost on this post:
Head work and valve job, $515.00 (shop labor 4hrs @ $80.00)
Top end gasket kit, $44.00
My time: priceless
Ride Safe.
