The Grey Goose 2013

As promised, here is a little more prospective on the hole in the rear piston phenomena which may be prominent on the Salt Flats.  As you may recall, just two posts ago I told the sad tale of the season ending piston failure in the Grey Goose; Joe Taylor's 1939 Knucklehead Bonneville racer.  To review what we already know:

1. In order to raise the compression ratio without having another set of custom pistons made, I welded the domes to fill in unneeded valve pocket clearance.
2. Despite the welding and re-machining, the piston dome thickness remained at a reasonable .200".
3. The engine was not run too lean, in fact just the opposite. 
4. Rear cylinder piston failure is common on Harleys with dual fire (aka wasted spark) ignitions at Bonneville.

The small holes were drilled after the fact to check dome thickness 

Exhaust pocket had also begun to "sag"

To clarify, for those not up to date on Harleys old wasted spark ignition system, it works like this.  On all but the latest offerings from Milwaukee, the timer, whether it be a battery/points ignition or a magneto, turns at half the speed of the engine.  This timer has two lobes (or notches for later electronic ignitions) which open the points, initiating the spark.  One lobe is set to open the points at the correct time for the front cylinder and the other at the correct time for the rear cylinder.  In the case of the Goose, that time was at 42 degrees BTDC (before top dead center) on the compression stroke.But  since these lobes both open the same single set of points, each cylinder gets a spark from each lobe, once at 42 BTDC on the compression stroke, and once on the exhaust stroke. 

Now you need to remember that the two cylinders on a Harley form a 45 degrees angle (thus the term 45 degree V-Twin).  That means that at any given point in time, the front piston will be at a point 45 degrees behind the rear piston in crankshaft rotation (I know that sounds backwards, but its not).  For instance, when the rear piston is at TDC on the compression stroke, the front piston will be 45 degrees away from reaching TDC, but it will be on the exhaust stroke.  This 45 degree offset is what makes things interesting.

Obviously if the rear piston is the one that normally takes the hit at Bonneville, there must be something that differs front cylinder to rear which is the culprit. And if it seems to be exclusive to wasted spark ignitions, then that would be a good place to look.

First lets look at the front cylinder.  After plotting the SS Cycle KN420 camshaft that the Goose employs, we find this:  At 42 degrees BTDC on the compression stroke the rear cylinder spark plug fires, and the wasted spark is produced at that same instant in the front cylinder.  However, the front cylinder is not at 42 BTDC on the exhaust stroke, but rather 87 degrees BTDC (remember it  trails the rear by 45 degrees).  At this point in time the front intake valve is still on its seat, in fact still about 6 degrees before it comes to the opening ramp on the cam.  The exhaust valve is just starting to close, but still near full lift.  OK - no problem.  That spark in the front cylinder with the exhaust valve open and intake valve closed won't do much.

Now for the rear cylinder.  When the front cylinder spark plug fires at 42 BTDC on the compression stroke, the rear cylinder is in a much different position.  Because of the the 45 degree offset, the rear piston is at 3 ATDC (after top dead center); technically not even still on the exhaust stroke, but rather beginning its descent on the intake stroke.  The exhaust valve is closing, but still .135" off its seat.  The intake valve on the other hand has already started to open to the tune of .185" off its seat.  Valve overlap is the common term.  Now that gives one something to think about doesn't it?

So her is some other pertinent info gleaned from PipeMax that may shed some light on the issue at hand.
Assume the Goose's engine were running 5500 RPM.  At the point where the rear cylinder receives its "wasted spark" (3 degrees ATDC in overlap), the piston has already started down on the intake stroke, accelerating to 325.5 feet per minute providing a "piston demand" of 10.1 cubic feet per minute of intake air flow.  Raise the RPM to the target 7500 and that becomes a piston speed of 443.8 feet per minute with a piston demand of 13.8 cfm.  All that is at a mere 3 degrees after top dead center.

If you put stock in David Vizard's theories (and I do), you may recall that he puts a large amount of emphasis on the overlap portion of the cam timing.  One of his conclusions is that the low pressure area caused by exhaust outflow results in the single strongest action initiating intake flow during this overlap period (hopefully I have paraphrased him properly).  So what effect does it have when you throw a spark into the middle of that overlap period?  A spark which incidentally does NOT occur during overlap on the front cylinder.  Hmmm.

So here are a few thoughts.  Obviously the rear cylinder is subjected to a spark during overlap which the front cylinder does not.  Since that cylinder is in overlap, there will be a fuel air mixture present to burn.  Now, that fuel air mixture is not compressed, but certainly it can burn none the less.  And what naturally comes along with burning fuel and air?  That's right - heat;  heat that the front cylinder is not subjected to.  I have no way of knowing or even estimating how much extra heat the rear cylinder gets this way, but the evidence would suggest that it may be just enough extra heat to melt a piston dome. 

Here is something else to consider though.  What happens when that wasted spark fires off and the fuel air mixture is richer than ideal?  The BTUs are in the fuel, not the air, so I would assume that you would be releasing even more heat than with a correct mixture.  Hmmm.  Remember that I said that the Goose was not run too lean.  It actually had the baseline jetting that it was dyno'ed with here in Minnesota.  The reason I was pretty sure that the piston did not fail from a lean condition was that I believe that it was "pig rich" (as I like to call it).  Could this be a case of a rich mixture giving the opposite results that one would expect?

But why does this happen at Bonneville, but not on the drag strip or on the street?  Well, my guess would be that it has everything to do with length of time spent under a heavy load.  Remember that aerodynamic drag becomes a huge factor at high speeds.  There are plenty of horsepower/MPH calculators available on line.  Plugging in some estimates (guess-timates?) for weight, frontal area and drag coefficient, we find that if it takes a mere 29 HP to hit 100 MPH, the same bike would need 55 HP to get to 125, and 77 horses to reach 140.  And if that is not enough of a wake up call, if you want to raise the MPH from 140 to 150 you better be ready to call up an extra 17 HP to wring out that 10 MPH.  Bottom line is that high speed puts a tremendous load on a motor, and the longer that load is present, the better the chance for heat build up.

Now we know that a drag motor will not see much time under full load and even less time at high speeds.  If you hit 100 MPH in the 1/8 mile, then you will likely see the 1/4 mile finish line in another 4 seconds. And on the street?  Despite thousands of bar room stories to the contrary, most street motors will never get more than a few seconds at full throttle and high speed before law enforcement rains on that parade.

So where do we go from here?  Obviously a single fire ignition system is in order.  The exact form that will take is still up in the air, with part of the team leaning toward keeping things as simple as possible, and part leaning toward as hi-tech as possible.  The other obvious bit is that new pistons are needed (you didn't really think I would weld them back up, did you?).  That part has been settled.

Four new pistons from Arias arrived this week, with the domes finished as per my sample (the undamaged front piston).  They are down right beautiful, and hopefully the two spares will remain in the box as spares for a long, long time.

And Now for Something New

OK, maybe not really new.  In fact, maybe it is something not new at all, except in the sense that it is not a recycled post.  In any case, to go along with the New Year, here is a little something on the New Birth.

Jesus said in John chapter 3, "... Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." And then he also said, " ... Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again."

Those words of the Lord Jesus Christ cannot be lightly dismissed! He did not give us a recommendation there, he gave us an imperative! He did not say 'you should consider being born again" or "you ought to be born again." No! He said you MUST be born again!

But that leads us to a question. Why MUST we be born again. If you are like me, you may not like to be told you must do something without an explanation of why. I do believe that comes from our sinful nature, especially when it relates to God's word. Jesus words should be enough to result in obedience without further explanation, but nevertheless Scripture does provide an explanation.

We find this in Ephesians 2: "But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ"

That word quickened means to make alive. This is speaking of the second birth. You see, we may be physically alive in the flesh after our first birth, but we are spiritually dead in our sins until we are born again. In Titus 3:5 Paul says this: "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;"

There again, regeneration means to be made alive again; to be born again. Don't let the word washing in that verse throw you off; if you are thinking baptism, you are reading into the passage what is not there. Paul is telling us that God in his mercy, saves us by the washing or cleansing of the new birth.

But what exactly does that mean, to be born again? Well, right back where we started in John chapter 3 we see Nicodemus asking that very question. In fact, part of what is quoted above was Jesus answer to that question. Being "born again" is not a literal physical event, but it certainly is a literal spiritual event!

Don't take my word for it, this spiritual event is of such magnitude that the Bible tells us that those who undergo this new birth will come forth as a new creation. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." (2 Corinthians 5:17)  Likewise in Ephesians 4 we read this "...be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness." 

In fact, the Apostle Paul points out that the new birth is more important than any religious ceremony. In Galations 6 he says this: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature"  Let me paraphrase that: Neither following or rejecting religious ceremonies will gain you any favor with Christ. Only the new birth, the new creature, holds any sway. That is not to say there is no place for Christian ceremonies such as baptism or communion, only that without the new birth they are of no effect.

That still leaves at least one question though, doesn't it? How is one born again? If we go back to our starting point in chapter 3 of the book of John, we see that this new birth thing is not something very easy to pin down. Jesus said that it is like the wind, in that you can't see it, you can't see where it comes from or where it goes, you can only see its effects.

So, how does one go about experiencing this new birth?
 
In 1 Peter 1:23 we see a Christian being described like this: "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."

That certainly puts a large emphasis on the Bible, because that is where we find this incorruptible seed which is unquestionably linked to the second birth. Does that mean you need to know the whole Bible, in and out, before you can be born again? No. But if we were to try to summarize the main points of the Bible, how would we do it? Well, the Old Testament, and especially the Law, does a pretty good job of showing us to be sinners who deserve judgment at the hand of God. But the New Testament shows us a Saviour who came and took that judgment upon himself. A Saviour who rose again from the dead and now sits at God's right hand. These are some of the things which are contained in this incorruptible seed; this seed which has the power to produce the new birth.

Let's sum this up. We have seen the imperative, as stated by Jesus, that you must be born again. It is an absolute necessity to be born again if one is to enter the kingdom of God. We also looked at the reason that one must be born again. It is God's method of bestowing mercy upon us and saving us from the judgment we deserve. We looked at the fact that the new birth changes us into a new person. Last, we attempted to answer HOW one is born again. That one makes the other questions look easy, and there is no simple formula to follow. But there is this, and I will close with it:

Romans 10: 9-10 "That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation."

EL Bonnie Wrap Up 2012

Here we are at the very end on 2012, and I have still not finished writing about EL Bonnie (recently re-named The Grey Goose).  Since I was not there, perhaps the best way to sum up the actual Salt Flats portion of the effort is to borrow from the writings of team member John Endrizzi as follows:

"We spent Sat and much of Sunday preparing The Goose for tech. After passing tech Sunday afternoon we had a freak thunderstorm, which left 2 inches of standing water on the Salt. Racing resumed Tuesday morning! We made our first pass that day after waiting in the starting queue for over 4 hours. By the time Terry set off from the starting line a very brisk crosswind had come up. He found the bike being blown from one side of the course almost hitting a marker flag on the opposite side. This was in the measured mile. He backed off the throttle. Later, he said that he was at 1/2 throttle and accelerating when the gust of wind hit him. The result was 115.929 mph. This was enough to break the Sid Biberman Vincent’s standing record of 109.079. By the time that we got the bike back to the pit, the wind speed had not died at all. It was decided not to make the return pass, which would be needed to post a new record. The next morning it was another long wait for our turn to run. Terry got off the line in good fashion and the bike sounded good thru 1-3rd gears. At the top of third, a little change in the motors rhythm was heard. While on the way down the return road, we heard the announcer say that our bike had run 59 MPH! Once back at the pit we found the rear cylinder had a holed piston. That was end of racing for The Goose!"

And, indeed that was the end of racing for the Grey Goose ...for 2012.  The motor is back in my shop, apart and waiting for new pistons.  If you read the previous posts on this engine build, then right about now you are no doubt saying to yourself, "So, welding the pistons turned out to be a bad idea after all!"  Or maybe even, "What kind of moron would weld on pistons anyway?"

I must admit, those were my first two reactions also.  After discussions with various sources ranging from fuel manufacturers to legendary engine builders,  it seems not to be so cut and dried.  (And a big thank you to John for taking the initiative to seek out those conversations!). 

First off, a few clues.  The front piston survived its excursion to the Salt Flats with absolutely no sign of any problem.  The team had not yet even started to lean out the jetting from its Minnesota baseline.  That in itself makes the possibility of a lean condition being the culprit very improbable.  The rear piston not only had a hole through the flat of the intake valve relief, it had also started to "sag" on the flat of the exhaust valve relief.  Drilling a small hole through the center of the "sag" allowed me to get an accurate measurement of the thickness at that point.  It was approximately .200" thick, which was just about the figure I was shooting for when I modified them.  The "sag" along with the appearance of the hole itself lead me to think that it was a heat problem rather than a detonation problem.

But all of that really left me none the wiser as to what had actually gone wrong.  Obviously new pistons that would not require the drastic modifications I performed on the last set were in order.  And I may have left it there, trusting that the hole in the piston was due to my overzealous welding in pursuit of compression, but for one dissenting opinion. One of the experts who John contacted in search of answers was Minnesota's own Mike Roland.  Mike did not think that the welding was to blame.  In fact, were it not for the fact that I personally believe that Mike is one of the brightest people to ever get involved in the Harley performance arena, I would have dismissed his idea without giving it any thought.  But when Mike speaks, I tend to listen; and closely at that!

When John contacted Mike for his thoughts, he immediately asked if it was the rear piston, and if it was a dual fire ignition.  Yes, and yes.  Well, it seems that at Bonneville, it is very common for Harley's to hole (using "hole" as a verb) the rear piston when using a stock style dual fire ignition.  I did not know that.  The team members for the Grey Goose did not know that.  Judging from other Bonneville stories I have since heard which feature "holed pistons", many others did not know that.

John's conversation with Mike Roland suggested a cure for the holed piston phenomenon (single fire), and even a reason for it (dual fire), but not an explanation.  That is not to say Mike did not have an explanation ready; just that John did not ask for one.  This left me with several options.  I could dismiss the dual fire scenario as the cause of the hole in the piston ...but I have too much respect for Mike's reasoning skills to make that mistake.  I could just go with Mike's advice and tell the team they need to switch ignitions. That would be the simplest solution, but hardly gratifying intellectually.  I could give Mike a call and ask for his explanation.  That would certainly be the quickest, but where is the satisfaction in that?  Sort of like turning the page over to get the answers to a crossword puzzle rather than fully exercising you brain to get them.  That bring us to the last option, and the one I ultimately went with: I could sit down and spend the time to figure out why a dual fire ignition could cause the problem.

My conclusions will be the subject of another post in the very near future, Lord willing.  In the mean time, readers are encouraged to submit their ideas in the comments section.  I already have my own explanation worked out and I promise not to borrow from anyone else without giving proper credit.

  

48 Hours

Less than forty-eight hours to go.  That's right, as I sit down to write this there are less than 48 hours left until the Mayan Calender expires and the world ends.  Sort of the new age version of Harold Camping's doomsday prophesy from some time back. 

Now, I no more expect that the world is going to end on December 21, 2012 than I believed in Camping's nonsense (or Al Gore's nonsense for that matter) and the date may have slipped by without notice had it not been for my lovely wife.  You see, my better half works in an office that attracts far more than its share of new age wackos.  One of them recently asked her if she was frightened by the prospect of the upcoming world's end.  Talk about a wide open witnessing opportunity!  ....but my wife is an employee, so stealing her boss's time, even for a such noble purpose, is just not in the cards.  But that doesn't mean I can't get in on  the action, so here goes.

Are you frightened about the end of the world?

Actually not such a bad question. The Bible tells us this in the book of Hebrews: And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:   That ought to cause all but the most hardened to pause for thought.  Suppose the world did end this Friday.  What then?  Well, the implication of the "world ending" is that we would all die.  But the truth of the matter is this: its much more likely that YOU will die this Friday.  No, I don't have some inside information about you personally, in fact chances are very good I have never met you.  But look at the statistics on death.  A whole lot of people die every day.  Do you think you will never be one of those statistics?

While you contemplate your own mortality, though, don't forget the second part of that verse from Hebrews: but after this the judgment.  So just when you have started to come to terms with the fact that you could die at any time, I go and throw the concept of judgment into the mix.  Fine ...you can pretend that there is no God, and/or that there is no judgment ...that the Bible is not the Word of God, or it has mistakes, or whatever other little dodge you use to soothe your conscience ...doesn't change a thing!

The answer of course can be found in the line after the one quoted above:  So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation. 

There is only one thing that save you from things going very badly in that judgment, whether said judgment happens years from now, on Friday when the Mayan Calender expires, or later tonight.  That is the blood of Jesus Christ.  Unless you have already put your trust in the Lord Jesus and his sacrifice for your sins, there really needs to be a sense of urgency, end of the world or not.

Showdown at Mount Carmel

Elijah versus the 450 Prophets of Baal

The Old Testament book of Kings tells the tale of the vicious cycle of God's chosen people backsliding, and eventually repenting, only to backslide again. Through all of those cycles, more often than not, the national tone was set by the King who was in power at the time. Both Judah and Israel had kings who followed the LORD, and those who did not, at various times in their history, though it seems that Israel always had more than their share of wicked kings. When you consider the wicked kings, most would agree that Ahab was the worst of the worst. His bad reputation is perhaps only exceeded by that of his wife Jezebel.

That is the backdrop for 1 Kings 18. Ahab and his wife Jezebel reigned over the nation of Israel. They had caused the people to worship a false god named Baal, and had even broken down the alters of the one true God.

And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel? And he answered, I have not troubled Israel; but thou, and thy father's house, in that ye have forsaken the commandments of the LORD, and thou hast followed Baalim.
 Now therefore send, and gather to me all Israel unto mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, which eat at Jezebel's table. So Ahab sent unto all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together unto mount Carmel.  1 Kings 18:17-20

Here we have the Biblical version of the showdown at the OK corral, or as my title suggests, showdown at mount Carmel.

And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. 1 Kings 18:21

Why do you suppose that the people did not answer him? The answer is right here in the verse. They didn't answer because their opinion was divided. On one hand they were the children of Israel, God's chosen people, and they remembered that. But they also had been led away into idolatry, mixing worship of the God of Abraham with worship of the gods of other nations; in this case the Phoenician deity Baal.

Then said Elijah unto the people, I, even I only, remain a prophet of the LORD; but Baal's prophets are four hundred and fifty men. Let them therefore give us two bullocks; and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under: And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD: and the God that answereth by fire, let him be God. And all the people answered and said, It is well spoken. And Elijah said unto the prophets of Baal, Choose you one bullock for yourselves, and dress it first; for ye are many; and call on the name of your gods, but put no fire under. And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made. And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked.  1Kings 18:22-27

Now, who says a Christian should never use sarcasm? Should never mock false gods? It seems that Elijah thought it was proper!

And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them.  And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded. And Elijah said unto all the people, Come near unto me. And all the people came near unto him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down.  And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, unto whom the word of the LORD came, saying, Israel shall be thy name: And with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD: and he made a trench about the altar, as great as would contain two measures of seed.  And he put the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid him on the wood, and said, Fill four barrels with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice, and on the wood.  1 Kings 18:28-33

Elijah did not want there to be any doubt about what was about to happen. No one would be able explain it away as some natural phenomenon. This was to be unmistakably the hand of God at work. We just saw Elijah command them to pour 4 barrels of water onto the wood, next verse he says this:

And he said, Do it the second time. And they did it the second time. And he said, Do it the third time. And they did it the third time. And the water ran round about the altar; and he filled the trench also with water. 1 Kings 18: 34-35

At this point one might be tempted to think Elijah is just showing off, but certainly there is more to it than that. We already heard that Elijah took 12 stones to build this alter, which represented the 12 tribes of Israel, who were chosen by God to be his people. Here we see that three times, four barrels of water were poured over the sacrifice - in other words a total of 12 barrels. Now if those 12 stones represented Israel and the worship they should have given God, then I think the 12 barrels of water may just represent Israel's resistance to that worship.

And it came to pass at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near, and said, LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and of Israel, let it be known this day that thou art God in Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that I have done all these things at thy word.  Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that thou art the LORD God, and that thou hast turned their heart back again. Then the fire of the LORD fell, and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God.  1 Kings 18: 36-39

Just a couple of observations and applications. The LORD our God is a jealous God who is worthy of worship. When we elevate some one or some thing to a place of more importance, or even equal importance to God, we are guilty of idolatry just as the nation of Israel was here in our story.

There is judgment coming. Just before Elijah called down the fire God, he prayed that Israel's heart would be turned back to the LORD. But the prophets of Baal were given no such option. You see, the people were guilty of backsliding and involved in idolatry, but they were still God's people. In the following verse, which tells of how the Prophets of Baal fared after the sacrifice was burnt, we see this:

And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there.  1 Kings 18: 40

The prophets of Baal were not just Israelites who had veered off course and mixed idol worship in with worship of the one true God, they completely rejected the LORD. They were enemies of God.

The big question is, which side are you on? Now, unless you are a prophet of Baal, or have otherwise set your heart solidly in opposition to God never to be changed, then it is not too late. If you will turn from your sin and trust in the Lord Jesus as your Saviour, believing that he paid for your sins on the cross and arose from the dead, then you too will become one of God's people. The miracle that the LORD will work in your heart will be just as dramatic as when Elijah called fire down from heaven!

Shovelhead Hydraulics

Now, now, now ...those are not swear words, though many mechanic has used them in a tone that would imply that they are.

Introduced in 1953 to replace the ill fated Panhead "hydraulic in the top of the pushrod",  certainly the 17920-53A was an big improvement since in 30+ years of wrenching I have yet to see its predecessor in working condition.  I did actually meet a man once who claimed that he had a working set in his motor, but I could not verify that he was not either deaf or a liar.  But I digress...

So, what is the first thing to do when you find yourself with noisy hydraulic lifters?  Adjust them of course.  And if that doesn't work, you adjust them again ....and yet again.  After one finally realizes that further adjustment is little more than wishful thinking bordering on the vain repetition of the prayers of the heathen, then what?

Now, we have all seen Shovelhead hydraulic lifters that function flawlessly; quiet and trouble free.  Common sense would tell us that for the most part this would be the norm, after all, the factory used them for over 30 years.  Somehow, though, it is the ones that are noisy that stick in our memory.  To be fair, a number of those that seem to be problematic are not to blame themselves, but take on the role of scape goat for other engine parts. 

Low oil pressure is the first logical root cause to examine before condemning the hydraulic unit.  Most who have been around Shovelheads for any time know to keep an eye on the tappet screen, since all the oil to the lifters must pass through it (hence its name).  Debris plugging this small screen can definitely make for some noisy hydraulics, though the type of debris and the amount of time it took to accumulate may also indicate larger problems.  Remember, the tappet screen is downstream from the gauge or sender, so you could have a good oil pressure reading, but still not enough pressure at the lifter. 

The oil pump itself could also be the culprit, but there again, excess wear could itself be a symptom of worn out parts serving up a metallic oil soup.   And then there are the bushings....  Oil pressure will seek the easiest path to relieve itself.  Fortunately there are only a few bushings in a Shovelhead motor that are subject to pressure, those being the pinion bushing and the rocker bushings.  Now  lifter noise in later Shovels with the multi stage oil pumps should not be affected much by loose clearance between the pinion shaft and bushing, since the pump is designed such that it must build pressure against the top end (hydraulic lifters and rocker arms) before the pressure relief valve opens enough to supply oil to the bottom end via the pinion bushing.  However, badly worn rocker bushings could still bleed off enough pressure to effectively disable the hydraulic lifters. 

But what if you have good oil pressure, the rest of your engine is in good shape, and you still have noisy hydraulics?  Well, maybe it's time to revisit that adjustment one last time.

First of all, I prefer to bring the engine to TDC on the compression stroke for one cylinder, and adjust both lifters for that cylinder at that point.  I'll assume you can find that place in your engine's rotation.  At that point the '59 to '69 FL/FLH-1200 Service Manual tells us to loosen (shorten) the pushrod until we have noticeable shake, and then extend it again until the shake is just taken up (just before it starts to compress the hydraulic unit).  From that point we are to extend the pushrod 4 full turns.  Fine.  I have use that adjustment many, many times with good results.

Now lets look at the '70 to Early '78 FL/FLH/FX/FXE/FXS-1200 Manual.  Here we find two methods.  One, called the "wet" method is identical to the one we just described from the '59-'69 Manual.  The other, called the "dry" method involves removing the hydraulics from the lifter, pulling the two halves apart, and cleaning out the oil (best accomplished with some spray brake parts cleaner or the equivalent).  With the hydraulics cleaned of oil, we are instructed to extend the pushrod past the point where the shake is removed and all the way until the hydraulic unit is bottomed out.  At this point, extending the pushrod length any further would begin to lift the valve.  Here we are instructed to shorten the pushrod by exactly 1-3/4 turns.  Again, I have used that adjustment many, many times with good results.

On to the '78-1/2 to '84 1200/1340cc 4 Speed Manual.  Here we find the old tried and true "wet" method to be missing in action.  And if that is not enough, the dry method has changed just enough to be barely noticeable (I just noticed it this summer after 30 years of valve adjustments).  Now we are to follow the same procedure as the "dry" method from the '70-'78 Manual, but instead of 1-3/4 turns up from the hydraulic being bottomed out, now it calls out 1-1/2 turns.  Hmm.  Do I need to say it?  Certainly I have used this adjustment many, many times (depending on which manual I grabbed) with good results.

But here is the interesting thing: for years I assumed that 4 turns down on a wet lifter would result in the exact same adjustment as 1-1/2 (or 1-3/4) turns up on a dry lifter.  It does not!  In fact, if it were not the for the 1-1/2 vs 1-3/4 discrepancy, I may have never realized this.  As it turns out, it takes about 8 full turns to collapse a Shovel hydraulic from its "wet" starting point to its "dry" starting point.  That means that using the "wet' adjustment method results in a hydraulic that is 4 turns up from bottomed out rather than the 1-1/2 or 1-3/4 turn up from the dry method. 

[2018 Update: If the range of adjustments listed above are not enough to convince you of the relative lack of importance as to the "exact" point in the lifter's travel, I have to add one more to the list.  While researching a totally unrelated issue I ran across this in Harley's "Shop Dope" publication from February 16, 1953.  This gives the recommended adjustment as 5 full turns down on a wet lifter.  If I count correctly, that comes to a total of four different factory settings for that lifter!]

Obviously  the wet method is much less time consuming if you have no other reason to completely remove the hydraulic units from the engine, but it looks as though extending the pushrods 8-1/4 to 8-1/2 might be in order (assuming the factory had good reason to go to a tighter adjustment in later years).  But it also becomes obvious that precise adjustment is not critical if all else is as it should be.  So next time you adjust your lifters don't sweat it if your wrench slips and you think you may have gotten a half turn off.  If its still noisy, better to spend your time investigating whether it is an engine problem or just bad lifters.

Old Letters - Second Time Around

Generally speaking, I do not recycle my previous blog posts, but with the election tomorrow (finally!) I thought this a good time to make an exception.  Since this was originally posted in January of this year, one can appreciate how much the fever pitch of the rhetoric has accelerated in the interval.  Whether the turmoil dies down after the election or not remains to be seen, however, by way of a second century letter, I would like to share a comforting thought or two.  So, without further fanfare:

For those who pay attention to such things, we are in the midst of the political season, if indeed that season can be said to have a beginning or end anymore. Nevertheless, it cannot help but to wear on the mind, and as often as not, leave one in despair over the future of our nation. The rhetoric only promises to increase in volume and pitch until at least November.

That is why I found myself somewhat chastised, yet at the same time encouraged, by my discovery of a letter written somewhere between 130 and 200 A.D. by one identifying himself as Mathetes to a person named Diognetus. Of course I did not stumble on it as though it were a root across my path as I explored the jungle that is the Internet, but rather I found it quoted on one of my regular stops which is a Christian blog that goes by the clever name of Pyromaniacs.

It has often been my thought that if one could go back to the very early Christian Church, it would be possible to see the right way to live. That those who were taught directly by the Apostles, or perhaps only a generation or two removed from them, would have had to have gotten everything right. Of course, in truth, that is to a large extent a fallacy. Even as the Apostles were still penning the letters of the New Testament, false prophets were making their way into the Church. (2 Cor. 11:13) Still, those early followers of Christ can certainly, by their example, point us toward scripture that we should remember to take heed of.

The following is a small section of the letter from Mathetes. You can find the rest of it here. I used the translation by J. B. Lightfoot.

"For Christians are not distinguished from the rest of mankind either in locality or in speech or in customs. For they dwell not somewhere in cities of their own, neither do they use some different language, nor practise an extraordinary kind of life. Nor again do they possess any invention discovered by any intelligence or study of ingenious men, nor are they masters of any human dogma as some are. But while they dwell in cities of Greeks and barbarians as the lot of each is cast, and follow the native customs in dress and food and the other arrangements of life, yet the constitution of their own citizenship, which they set forth, is marvellous,and confessedly contradicts expectation. They dwell in their own countries, but only as sojourners; they bear their share in all things as citizens, and they endure all hardships as strangers. Every foreign country is a fatherland to them, and every fatherland is foreign. They marry like all other men and they beget children; but they do not cast away their offspring. They have their meals in common, but not their wives. They find themselves in the flesh, and yet they live not after the flesh. Their existence is on earth, but their citizenship is in heaven. They obey the established laws, and they surpass the laws in their own lives. They love all men, and they are persecuted by all. They are ignored, and yet they are condemned. They are put to death, and yet they are endued with life. They are in beggary, and yet they make many rich. They are in want of all things, and yet they abound in all things. They are dishonoured, and yet they are glorified in their dishonour. They are evil spoken of, and yet they are vindicated. They are reviled, and they bless; they are insulted, and they respect. Doing good they are punished as evil-doers; being punished they rejoice, as if they were thereby quickened by life. War is waged against them as aliens by the Jews, and persecution is carried on against them by the Greeks, and yet those that hate them cannot tell the reason of their hostility."

That's right - as a Christian, our real citizenship is in heaven! And though we find ourselves in the flesh, we are not to live after the flesh! It seems that Mathetes' description of the lifestyle of the Christians of his time should make us ponder whether we fit that mold or not. And most of all, it reminds us that there is no "salvation" to be found in any government or secular leader, but that our only hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ!

I feel better now.