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I was sitting at my desk the other day pondering the woes of the world and, at the same time, wondering just how much crap I could stuff into my garbage can before the trash company would refuse to empty it when the phone rang. It was George Smith from S&S Cycle calling in the loan of his 40th Anniversary Engine. I had been running this beast for a couple of years and tried to convince him that he’d given it to me. “Notta chance, Oz,” he said. “You know the drill, run it for a couple of years and then we get it back to see just how much damage you were able to do to it.” S&S and Hubba-Hubba Racing (George’s Drag Racing Operation) had asked me to punish the 40th motor for a while and I’d readily agreed. I whined for a while about how used I’d become to all the power and torque, and said that I didn’t know how I’d be able to ride anything else. I threw in a couple of tears along the way. George finally got tired of listing and said they’d cut me a fine deal on a new 113 inch ground pounder, with one catch. I’d have to assemble it. Knowing what a fine motor man I wasn’t, I jumped at the deal, and as soon as I’d hung up the phone I called my pal Fuzzy, owner of Shakedown Street, in Ventura, California. “Fuz, I need your tender touch on some S&S parts I got coming!” Fuzzy said no problem and I eagerly awaited the promised packages from Wisconsin. The stuff arrived in short order, and into the truck it went on it’s way to Shakedown Street, arguably one of Southern California’s premier shops. Fuzzy and his crew specialize in everything form radical customs, such as the one seen here,
to this soon to be finished drag racer…..
If Fuzzy’s name sounds familiar, he’s well known in H-D drag racing circles, and most recently handled much of the precision stuff for Jim’s Machine. Shakedown also offers all the service any street rider could require. The first thing you gotta do, before any assembly, is to thoroughly check everything out for the proper clearance and alignment. We started with the flywheels. We jigged them up in the truing stand and found them to well under the 0.002 inch runout.
In fact, the gauges didn’t seem to move at all.
The pinion shaft bearing race (above) and shaft (below) were both damned near as perfect as you could get.
Next we needed to check the sprocket shaft bearing fit. To accomplish this Fuzzy uses a slightly turned down sprocket shaft with two thousandths taken off.
The new bearing is then slid on the dummy shaft, dry, and the fixture mounted in a vise (photo below).
 The bearing spacer (above) is then slipped over the shaft (below) and then the new outer bearing is slid on, also dry.
The assembly is torqued down and the dial indicator set up (above).
It was necessary for us to use a slightly thicker spacer to get the precise endplay required. The specifications call for endplay between 0.001-0.005 inches. We then cleaned the cases and blew out all the oil passages. Any new case should also have the oil pump mounting surface checked for burrs or other irregularities.
The oil pump is also inspected and lightly oiled.
Next the breather gear is fitted into the case and checked for rotation.
It’s now time to install the flywheels and mate the case halves together.
Fuzzy recommends Three Bond Liquid Gasket #1104 for trouble free and leak free assembly. The cases are torqued (below) and the pinion gears, oil pump and breather are installed.
The lifters and lifter blocks finish off the cases and it’s on to the cylinders. We cleaned and checked the cylinders for any irregularities and then made sure the ring end gap was within specs.
Next Fuzzy installed the rings on the pistons….
….and then, after lubing the rod bushing….
……installed the pistons on the rods.
The inner skirts of each piston are cut….
….to make sure they don’t collide as they pass each other. The rings are compressed and the cylinders slid into place. Head bolt can be used to secure the first cylinder as you install the second.
The cylinder heads are bolted on and torqued….
….and then it’s time for the rocker boxes. These are installed and torqued….
….and you’re done. As you can see from the look on Fuzzy’s face….
….he’s glad to have us done and can now get back to some real work. After all the help he’s given use we’d thought we’d tell you all once again what a first class operation Fuzzy runs. We also thought we’d show you a couple of shots of his engine area.
Fuzzy’s as meticulous about your work as he is about his shop, so give him a call at 805-644-5001 if you want the best workmanship in Southern California. Now I guess I’m gonna have to get busy, so I’ll see all of you on the road. Oz
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