| Author | Message | ||
     Mountainstorm |
Before I started on the repair I went back through all the info I could find here on BadWeb and I have to say the tips and tricks on getting that Rocker Box Cover off without removing the engine were spot on. My only apprehension was putting strain on that rear engine mount. Despite her age this 2002 P3 is almost a virgin with less than 3000 miles on the clock. It took a while for that heavy rubber isolator on the bottom rear to give way and let the engine droop even after I undid the heim joints and loosened the two bolts by the steering head. But getting to that rear isolator looked difficult so I went for it, gave it a little wiggle and a tug and down it came to provide just enough clearance to remove the 4 allen head bolts and slide the cover off to the left. Getting the cover in and out was probably the trickiest part of the repair as it will only clear the rockers one way as far as I can tell. I had to chop up a 3/16" allen wrench to get at those tight clearance bolts and was not entirely happy about the whole process. I used small vice grips and an adjustable wrench and it was a real pain in the butt fiddling with a tiny piece of hex wrench and only getting a quarter turn at a time. Next time I will have a specialized tool so I am not spending hours to do a simple job like this. http://www.motionpro.com/motorcycle/partno/08-0220 / I'll pass along a tip on removing the coked on paper gasket. I used a piece of acrylic. I have lots of that as scrap from my business so it was a no brainer. Hard enough to scrape the paper, soft enough to protect the aluminum. The 90 degree edge was plenty sharp for the job. I would touch it up on the sander to renew the edge as it dulled. To loosen the residue after the initial scraping I used some Break Free CLP I use for maintaining my guns and knives. It did a good job of softening the brown streaks bonded into the aluminum flange. After the scrape I used compressed air to jet away the debris on the Rocker Box but not on the head...I was super careful and clean in my scraping efforts there over the open engine and was blotting up bits as I went with an oily rag. Finally I gave the RB parts a blast with carb cleaner and then air dried before assembly. Just because I could I mirror polished the bottom part of the Rocker Box and renewed the lid with a wire brush and solvent. You never see it...but a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do... I did find one bad bit of info here in my searches. Some part numbers posted in a Rocker Box thread for the rubber gaskets on the Rocker Box Lid rurned out to be for an 07 forward Sportster and will not work my Blast...not sure about other years but this 2002 P3 has a completely different style of rubber gasket. My fault for not having the old ones in my hand or at least letting the counter man do his job and look them up...I ended up making a trip back...kudoa to Roanoke Valley Harley Davidson Buell for having what I needed in stock. The rubber coated metal gasket that goes on the top of the head is the same as a Sportie so no worries there. Numbers I found here that are incorrect are rocker cover outer - 17362-07A (or B) rocker cover inner - 17695-07A These are thin tall rubber gasket similar in outline only. Incidentally the numbers for the correct gaskets for the 2002 are rocker box cover outer - 17353-89C rocker box cover inner - 17358-84B These are the latest revisions and are different in appearance than what I replaced. The rubber is better and the shape looks to make a perfect seal. They are wider and flatter than the 07 forward Sportster seals. The Metal/Rubber Rocker Box to Head Gasket I got was 16800-84A. Red rubber over metal. So far so good. 50 mile test ride and no leaks. Here's a little about how I got r done here up on the mountain without plunking down Hundred Dollar bills at the HD service counter. Remove seat. Remove Battery (10mm) Remove Tank cover (undo the one 10mm bolt hidden by seat, undo fuel vent line, undo dipstick). Note that I have the Pro Buell intake and there is no factory air box or trim panels for me to mess with so if you have those info on that is here on BadWeb like everything else you need to know. Use the search function. Undo fuel line from tank. I find it easier to get the tank out if I take off the carb. just undo the electrical connection and undo the boot connection and let it hang. Slide tank back off the tampons. BTW I replaced my decomposed foam tampons with PVC tubing). Remove spark plug (11/16" for stock plug) Remove Timing Check Plug (7/16" Allen) Stabilize bike with rear tire off ground...there are a number of ways to do this. Instead of chocking the back wheel I used ratchet straps and hoisted the bike from the ceiling of the garage by the seat subframe (just hook the tubes on either side of the battery). Undo top heim joint at frame and front heim joint at case (9/16"). Loosen the two bolts (9/16") holding the front mount to the frame at the frame by steering head (do NOT remover the brace that says DO NOT REMOVE). Go back and forth between the two bolts until about half the nut threads are exposed to let the engine come down a tiny bit. I had to use open end wrenches because everything is very close. Pull Turret Valve from grommet on Rocker Box Lid. I had to snip a couple of wire ties and get that hose and some other stuff pushed out of the way so I could work. On the right side (facing forward) the bolts are accessible on the left they are still very close to the frame. I used a ratchet and 3/16" allen drive on the right and a snip of allen key and various wrenches on the left. This would have been a good time to have a special special tool like this one http://www.motionpro.com/motorcycle/partno/08-0220 /. I went in the usual back and forth to ease off the pressure without warping the parts. Getting the lid out will be fun. Take your time. Get down at eye level to the task and make sure you don't damaged any mating surfaces. I had to rock the engine to the side just a little and hold it there to get the lid to clear the rear rocker arm. This is the ideal time to find TDC before removing the Rocker Box Base. I put the bike in 4th and rolled the wheel to turn the engine. I could hear the air whooshing out of the spark plug and I could watch the valves. I could look through the inspection hole at the fly wheel and find the two dots. Make sure the valves are full up and the piston is full up. I used a piece of soft wire (soldering) and put that through the spark plug hole to assure the piston was all the way up. Now more fun with allen head bolts in tight confines. Again the special tool would have been REALLY NICE TO HAVE at this point but I somehow got into the spots with the bits of allen wrnech. I had to use one piece about 1.25" long and one piece about .75" long. I cut up a ball end wrench which was super helpful to get at the forward allen headed bolt on the rocker box to head assembly. Note that two bolts are 3/16" allen head and three bolts are 7/16" hex head and these come off before the 4 1/2" hex heads that hold down the rocket shafts. I went in the usual rotation for 5 bolt patterns to ease them out. I was surprised at how loose some of them were. Then I did the usual X loosening routine on the Rocker bolts. Once I lifted the base up off the head a little I removed the push rods. The exhaust is longer than the intake by a fraction so that's how I could tell them apart for reassembly. I also noted top and bottom to avoid any wear on the parts. Now the rocker box base can slide out to the left. That's all there is to it really, reverse the order to assemble. Here's a repost on the torque values I found here on BadWeb. Four large bolts (1/2" socket): 15-18 ftlbs three 7/16 socket bolts: 10-13 ftlbs two allen head bolts 90-120 inchlbs top cover bolts: 10-13 ftlbs four large bolts (1/2" socket): 15-18 ftlbs three 7/16 socket bolts: 10-13 ftlbs two allen head bolts 90-120 inchlbs top cover bolts: 10-13 ftlbs I got no fancy Torque Wrench, but I've been fixing on engine for 30 years so I kind of have a built in inch pound meter in my hands...your results may vary. When in doubt break out the Service Manual and the proper tools and do it by the book. If you want to replace your PCV valve grommet the part number is 17606-00YA. This is a good time to do it without risking crud falling the rocker box... If you want to replace the PCV Valve itself the number is 17607-00Y. Good luck and thanks again to all the Blasterds out there on BadWeb putting out good info. | ||
| Vicenzajay |
Wow - this is awesome step-by-step help for someone like me who is NOT a mechanic by any definition. Thanks - Jay | ||
| Mountainstorm |
Best I could do on short notice. I was going to make a video tutorial but some of the things I had to do were too ghetto to pass along...lol No duct tape was involved in this repair...but I thought about it. | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
Great write up and I REALLY appreciate you taking the time to do it. There's nothing like first time experience to remember all the little things that get forgotten. You added a few extra steps, but you've only done it once and I've done it at least a dozen times (lol!). | ||
| Gearheaderiko |
 I opt for undoing the front isolator completely and dropping the engine down which gives you much more room to work. You do risk tweaking the rear mount and if its suspect, you might indeed tear it. But you can usually get away with it once, as long as you don't leave it hanging for months. A ratchet tie down works great for this. Anyway just another option and there are certainly more ways to skin this cat! Again THANK YOU! | ||
| Blueblast |
Great write up Very imformative Easy to follow and understand Deserving of sincere thanks for the effort.  | ||
| Ezblast |
Nice! EZ | ||
| Milt |
Bravo. I especially like your discussion of TDC. | ||
| Ezblast |
Thank you. EZ |
