This 1928 Harley engine as come to us for a complete rebuild. We are in the process of tearing down and cleaning. These pictures give you a good idea of what kind of condition it was in when it came to us. We will update you as we continue to work on this project.
Things are moving right along with Chris V.’s 1947 Kuncklehead. Here are some new pictures and we are anticipating having it finished in the next month or so. 
We have a special guest writer for this newest post. We met Tandy approximately 15 years ago when she came in for some help with her Knucklehead, and she has been a faithful customer and friend ever since. Enjoy.
I bought my bike in 1981. It was love at first sight and I bought her before I could even kick-start her. The current owner started her and despite the suicide/jockey shift, I rode off as if she had been mine for years.
The first few years I lived on her but then life happened ….. my family all sold their bikes but I kept her and rode alone.
I made seat, fender, and paint changes to her over the years but could never find anyone that really seemed to understand her until I met the guys at HWC. They kept her running well for years then one day I had the money and they had the know-how to rebuild the engine and transmission, as well as make some chassie modifications.
Thanks to the guys at Highway Choppers I will be riding my scooter for as long as I possibly can. And yes, a ridge frame at 50 is not as easy as it was at 20 but it is still just as much fun!
Tandy
These are some of the projects we are currently working on. Enjoy!
This bike was brought to us as a Pan/Shovel. The customer wanted to convert it back to a Panhead engine. We pulled the engine and completely balanced and blueprinted it with a Panhead topend instead of a Shovelhead. After running it on the run-stand and making sure everything was in working order, we installed it back into the chassie.
This is a 1953 PanShovel (Panhead lower end with a Shovelhead top end). It came to us from Pennsylvania needing to be rebuilt. It is a 74″ engine. You might notice that we had to fabricate custom top end oil lines because of the unique nature of a PanShovel engine. Part of the final rebuild process includes balancing and blueprinting the engine. Our customer wanted to take it back with him after his stay in Arizona for the winter. We were able to complete this project in about a month and a half.
This is Chris V.’s 1947 Kuncklehead partial restoration. We are rebuilding the motor and transmission and installing it in his chassis. We are also installing new handlebars as well as replacing his aftermarket tanks with original ones. After all the changes are made the final step will be painting to match.
This is the first time the engine ran after restoration.
A couple of weeks ago Bill Rodencal, the head Restorer/Conservator at Harley Davidson, called and asked if he could visit our shop while he was in town on his family vacation. He stopped by on a Tuesday and visited for about two hours. We talked about all kinds of Harley and Indian motorcycles. We were thrilled and honored to have such an expert in the field spend time both chatting with us and checking out some of our current restoration projects. The following Saturday, we took a ride to Cave Creek, Arizona and met him for lunch. We had a great time and look forward to his next visit. Thanks, Bill, for visiting.
Ken (left), Dave (center), and Bill (right)
These cases were brought to us severely broken, and the customer wanted to save them. We have the capability of repairing these cases almost as if they were new. As you can see from the pictures, the top part of the case was broken completely off. In order to repair them, we fit them back together and dovetail ground all the cracks. Then we proceeded to weld the case back together. Early Harley cases are extremely difficult to weld due to the quality of aluminum used in the castings. We have a very talented certified welder, in house, that makes it look easy. Once the cases were repaired, we fit both case halves together and finished alining all surfaces such as motor mounts and cylinder deck. Once the machine work was complete, we went back and refinished the surface to give it a factory original look.
Here are some before and after photos.
We are making headway on Mike’s 1948 Indian Chief. The engine is balanced and blueprinted. We put all new gears in the transmission, including mainshaft and countershaft. The engine and transmission are joined together and installed in the frame. We also did the the last sheet metal fitting to make sure that there are no issues or extra holds and that it all fits perfectly prior to painting. Mike chose red and cream; he likes to refer to it as red and vanilla. Much thanks to Dave at The Shop in Ventura California. He is a long time friend and Indian guru.
