I'm new and dumb

[Hoghead]

That motor should have orings for intake to head seals. A couple of bucks at any H-D familiar shop. Looks like you have the two-piece intake clamps. If they are the original cast brass pieces, they fit and work well. The modern knock-offs
of the same clamp are not too good.

Use 60 wt. in that old iron. 20W50 is NOT the oil for that motor.

Jim

Jim-thanks for the correction on the oil. I'm running 20/50 in my shovel and 60w during hot summer periods, should I not use 20/50 in the Shovel? Thanks!

[farmall]

Promptly download the factory service manuals and parts catalogs for everything you ride then use their default lube recommendations if in doubt. The Donnie Petersen Ironhead book is outstanding (and the ebook can be de-DRMed and converted to .pdf using Calibre for convenient viewing on any device). If Amazon support goes away so may any Kindle ebooks you've not archived. https://www.geoffstratton.com/remove...n-kindle-books )

BTW the reference to "original cast brass" means "original aftermarket cast brass" not STOCK. Neither are conformal like the stock or my preferred "aircraft" style band clamps with locknuts. An easy way to check for the shitty variety is compare the relationship of the seal groove to the bolt holes. The shittiest ones I've seen would not produce a matched pair from any of the four pieces of a set!

[JBinNC]

Yes, those two-piece intake clamps are definitely aftermarket. Sorry if my wording was confusing. I have in the back of my mind the thought that those intake clamps were an early Arlen Ness product, but I don't know why I think I remember that.

Jim

[JBinNC]

Jim-thanks for the correction on the oil. I'm running 20/50 in my shovel and 60w during hot summer periods, should I not use 20/50 in the Shovel? Thanks!

Oh Lord, I don't want to get involved in an oil thread. Just shoot me now.

But, since you asked....

H-D recommended 20W50 for shovels in the later years. I am not a fan of multigrade oils in old air cooled motors, period. But I live in the South, where winter lows are seldom below 20 degrees F. And hot weather is f***ing HOT.

For shovels and ironheads, my policy is, if it has a cast iron oil pump, I use 60wt., and if it has an aluminum pump, I use 50wt. The evos are fine with 20W50 as they cool so much better than the earlier motors, and they have a more modern valve train.

In general, oils and filters are much better than when the shovels and ironheads were built, BUT there is little or no ZDDP in a lot of blends. And that "zinc" is an effective anti-wear additive that I think is necessary for the old motors. (Doubly true for flat tappet car and truck motors.)

Jim

[Dragstews]

[Hoghead]

Jesse-better pour that second one for Jim, I can imagine how tedious oil threads get...
Cheers both!
HH

[babysfirstbike86]

Haha. You guys are funny. I'll get 60wt oil and see what they've got for seals. Cleaning with kerosene sounds fun.

[Whoremonger]

Try to find VITON seals .they hold up better with today’s gas