pushrods

[Shovl]

this is a follow up to my earlier message about poor acceleration. since the valve train is making noise, a problem there may explain poor acceleration while still having good compression. 2 questions about the attached pic: are these solid pushrods or hydraulic? And does this connection seem bent to anyone but me? There is no play in the pushrod. BTW these are S&S 80" cylinders. thanks again

[JD]

There's no such thing as "solid vs. hydraulic" pushrods. There are solid vs. hydraulic lifters, and the stock lifters are hydraulic. There are fixed length and adjustable pushrods, which these appear to be adjustable by the photo. And, to my eyes, this one most definitely looks bent.

I would recommend that you change your pushrods to start. If you go with the adjustable, there is a very specific procedure to adjust them. If after this you still have problems, then you will probably have to look into some other issue like lifters, rocker arms, etc.

[Shovl]

Thanks for the reply JD. I have a DVD that shows how to adjust these, but there are different procedures for solid or hydraulic ones. Not sure which these are. This is a 1980 shovelhead with S&S 80" cylinders, dual plug heads

[bikerinthenight]

looks like hydro to solid conversions to me..would need to see a better pic of the lifters...
and, "guessing" by the push rods (large round/ends?), I`d lean towards solids...

did you get my PM?

[Heretic]

Shovl.....what kind of riding do you do? if it is mostly in town, stop and go, Maybe hydraulics are best for you. If you like open road riding, shovels really do like solid lifters.

SUM BITCH...I JUST CHOKED ON A DRINK OF BEER AND RAN IT OUT MY NOSE.....THAT SUCKS AND FEELS LIKE SHIT ALL AT THE SAME TIME...

Anyway, back to lifters. The S&S conversion to solids is cheap.......I wouls keep an eye on that valve though. lifters or pushrods do not just bend on their own. I suspect either your valves were adjusted wrong, or your bike was over-revved.....bent pushrod means piston met valve

[Shovl]

thanks guys, Biker - I just got your pm, thanks. great call on that shovelhead usa site. I bookmarked that so fast your head will spin. I mainly drive the beautiful back roads here in western CT. 40 mph all the way. the compression is 150 front & back so I hope the valves are OK. I'll just replace the lifters, make them solid if not already. I've spent so much $$ working the AMF out of this thing another $100 won't make any difference at all.

[bikerinthenight]

No problem man..
if you do have solids, which it looks like they may be..and you defiantly have solid non-adjustable push rods...what you would do, is start in the front or back..which ever, then SLOWLY roll the motor over, and try and roll the push rod with your fingers...keep rolling the motor over until you find where the loosest spot is..now, adjust the push rod, where you can just barely roll it with your fingers...you want to feel some resistance while rolling it...
this is NOT too tight...some will say adjust them, to where you can "spin" them with your fingers...but...when the motor gets good and warmed up..the cylinder, heads etc, will expand, and "raise" away from the block..so your push rods will always increase in clearence (get looser) when the motor is fully warmed up, compared to being cold...so what i like to do, is adjust my push rods as tight as posible (just barley able to rotate them with my fingers)..

after you have adjusted the first one..roll the motor over a few times, and check it again..make DAMN SURE, you have adjusted it, at it`s loosest spot!!
then repeat on the rest..

the above ONLY applies to solid lifters!!!...totally different plan for hydro`s!!