Build: 1978 Shovelhead Chopper

[nowhitebelts]

Thanks for pointing that out boomboomthump. The advice is very welcome, keep it coming. Engine work is new territory for me so I'll be asking for a lot of help, need to get another thread up on shovelhead.us as well for this.

Honestly, I expected worse when I opened it up. I will be doing a thorough inspection as you mentioned once I get the jugs off. Will definitely look into a bore, hone and fresh pistons. Any sense of what the cause of your scoring was? Just bad fitment or install? Given that this is an 80" kit with mismatched gaskets, I wouldn't be surprised if PO slapped it together himself and cut some corners... hopefully I don't make the same mistakes.

In other news, I've been following your build thread, amazing work man. I'm learning TIG and while I won't be doing as much fab on this build as you did (baby steps), you've set a high bar. Definitely lighting a fire under my ass to keep things on point.

[Dblwlf]

Na, my bike is a stock dropseat frame with earlier style pan/shov swing arm.

[nowhitebelts]

Okay, update time:

ENGINE:
- Motor is completely torn down and ready to send for machining. Folks have recommended JLK in the East Bay, if anyone has SF Bay Area machine shops that they highly recommend, let me know.

- The motor has an Andrews #6 Grind Cam, does anyone have thoughts on this cam or other good cams for a mellow 80" build? Seems a little aggressive for what I'm going for. Motor has 80" barrels with .010 over S&S cast pistons, hydraulic lifters. Overall I'm trying to build for stability, easy starts and strong pull and performance through the typical road/Freeway RPM range. The bike seemed a bit sluggish and choppy on the low end when it was running, but there were a number of factors that could have been contributing to the jankiness.
- Anyone got a good list of things I should have the machine shop do when I send the motor in? Right now my list is as follows: Inspect Rods, flywheels & Bottom End, Bore/Hone Cylinders, Inspect valve seats and guides (may upgrade to hardened seats), Deck any mating surfaces that have nicks/scratches that could compromise sealing, Bead blast urrythang, Inspect trans (I'm not messing with the trans myself on this build).

FRAME:
- Frame is almost bare, just need to pull the trans and the neck cups, BoomBoomThump, I will be using the split pipe tool you recommended.
- Current plan is to ship the frame to Fab-Kevin for hardtailing

WHILE EVERYTHING IS OUT:
- Shave and polish forks
- Blast cast wheels & get new tires so I can get a roller together quickly. I'm thinking Pirelli Night Dragons for tires, just because I love good grip.
- Rebuild Oil Pump
- Either rebuild SU Carb or swap for a CV. Any thoughts on this are welcome. My only grip with the SU is it's size, other than that I've been happy with performance.