Shovelhead disassmbly.... How difficult? Never torn down a bike before...

[HarmBMW]

1 Year ago I made my first chopper from my shovelhead (FX-1200). Made a lot of pictures(!), did some research, often here on ChopCult, before taking apart the parts. Actually only parts of the engine and transmission.. Put a label on parts which I knew I was going to forget where it belongs :P And wrote some notitions on my phone. If I can do it, anyone can do it.

[seaking]

I really like Mike's Garage on youtube although his tone is slower and more deliberate and he misses some material in video sequence (shovelhead disassembly and then you have to reference his evo reassembly etc.) I can't watch Tatro, I fucking hate looking at his long nails! disgusting. Tatro also needs to speak up I can't hear for shit and Mike has a nice radio voice. There's also a good shovel bottom end disassembly for reference on youtube out of Australia, other than that yeah the factory manual, 3/8's 1/2in drive and a couple special tools you'll be fine.

[Tater66]

Remember what shims went where. Fresh bolts on engine, new nuts for trans. Scrape paint from engine/trans mounts.

Other than internal engine/trans work the only real bitch is getting the oil tank back on. Electric starter peripherals can be a bit of a pain when its worn out stuff.

[Fetch]

The beginning of an addiction......Just turn the wrench.

[drivermark]

https://www.carlsalter.com/mcpdf/Harley%20Davidson-1970-78%20Electra%20super%20Service.pdf

This should help a little

[DoomBuggy]

If you are going to go through your 4 speed, I really like this video a lot, it reminds me of some of the training vids when I was in the service.

I watched it several times before I did mine, still works like a champ!

[KELD]

Disassembly easy, reassembly not so much.

[ShovelheadChris]

What Farmall and JBinNC said!

[ShovelheadChris]

I would also add, get yourself a spiral or composition notebook and start inspecting everything as it comes apart, and write down anything you may almost think is important. Measure and write all your as found dimensions, so you can go back on assembly and verify what you got to what it should be.

Dig in. There's a reason we all keep doing this shit.

Shovel

[docmel]

As said, Clymers tend to be too generalized and do have mistakes. I have found that in thier Plymouth, Chevy and FJ manuals, as well as early HD. As said, factory manual is the way to go

Really, the only thing that stands in your way are some tools for the deeper work, some already mentioned

Keep thing simple, organized, avoid shortcuts and sloppy, unsafe results

[Supertouch]

Pictures, writing down certain things etc. there’s a mile of wires in that headlight bucket. But deff take pictures, write certain things down, also ziplock bags, label bags and such.

[SwiftBandit]

Sure you've already gotten what you need from everyone elses replies, but I was in the same position...I bought an 84 FXWG and tore it down for a chopper build. All I had was a set of basic craftsman wrenches, some other odds and ends, and I tore apart the entire bike in the basement level of the parking garage at my apartment building. It's a bit tricky to pull the primary cuz those bolts are torqued down pretty tight, and you've gotta make sure to remember that your tranny side bolts are all reverse thread, but otherwise, it really wasn't too hard....it's the putting back together that'll get you! And +1 on supertouch, definitely bag, photograph, and label everything as you go, and DO NOT SELL a damn thing until you've got your bike back together because you never know what tiny little bolt will save your ass and could be a pain in the ass to find online again. Pacific Mike's videos on YouTube have been an incredible resource for me, but you'll also learn a bunch as you go through it. I've got a couple PDF manuals I can email you if you DM me. Happy building!