Pan in a Pan

We've finished the 'Pan in a Pan'.
She's been done very much in the style of The Garage Company but with her own identity.
She is a tough, fast bike with a mean attitude.

Pan V Twin frame and correct in-line springers.
Cut down Flanders O bars, original HD internal controls and 4" risers.
Cut down rear fender and narrowed fat bob tanks with all welding left raised and showing.
No repaint and and an overall aged and worn look (patina they call it).

Front is an 18" on a rebuilt star hub with original HD brake and brand new Firestone.
Rear is a 16" on a rebuilt star hub with original HD brake and brand new Firestone.
HD rocker clutch and custom hand change. Nice old HD rear light.
Bates rubber foot rests, Bates style light and seat and pad.

Motor is a fully rebuilt 49 pan. Bored to 84" with plenty of Crane and Sifton parts.
Brand new V-Tronic electronic ignition, brand new Primo 1 1/2" belt drive.
S&S Shorty Super E with custom cut down round air cleaner.
Completely re-wired from scratch with new cloth covered cable and three circuit fused.

We've built this bike with HD parts where possible and the 'dirty' style is intended.
If you dont like the finish you could clean it up yourself and if you want any parts swapping out we can do that.

She is available for inspection in Lincoln and is fully registered.

For sale at £11,000.  SOLD

The high resolution photos should show all the detail.

Cylinder head parts breakdown (rear)

These motors may be old but they weren't just thrown together. A lot of thought went into this design. Remember, although this isn't a first year knuckle, these were the first overhead valve motors that the company produced (I know, I know, but they were the first for mass consumption).

The only major change when the panhead arrived in 48 was the method they used to stop the oil leakage around the valves and springs. The pan covers may be more effective but those knuckles sure are pretty.

The Red 46

We are in the process of a top end job on a 1946 EL knuckle. There was a problem with a lack of compression on the front cylinder as well as an excess of oil in the top end' even pushing out through and into the front exhaust. As you would expect we checked both heads and found wear to three valve guides and damage to two of them.

So; dis-assemble the heads, a good clean, new guides in and sizing to the valve stems, then lap the valves and re-assembly.  A time consuming job but well worth the effort.

Pressing the guides in. This also holds the lower part of the valve spring cover in place. (The shaft is just to check alignment at this stage).

Here you can see that both the valve guides and valve spring covers are now intalled.

Here the valves are in, the rocker arms and shafts are intalled and the rocker arm housing. 

Here you can see the inlet and exhaust cover plates installed. There are gaskets and sealer to keep things sealed. The next job is to wait until the sealer dries and then we peel off the excess.

Then its the second head and then installation on the bike.

Good bye for now old friend.

Rich delivered Guy's pan last week and she's looking very nice. The motor has been completely gone through as there was some major damage. It's taken an age but so much needed doing.

We've put one of our spare transmissions in while we sort the original one and when she comes back in for the transplant we can look at a few other things.

We put 50 miles on her to shake out the rattles and now all she needs is a careful 500 running-in miles. As with all rebuilds there will be a few breakin-in adjustments needed but nothing that can't be sorted with a screwdriver and a spanner!

If you see her out on the road give her a wave. See you soon old girl.

Motor number identification

Everyone knows the part numbering system of HD for the more modern bikes but we were asked recently about the era of the 'straight leg pan' frame and if a motor was 'correct' for a particular frame.

Here is the reference we used but if you need any help with earlier years just give us a call.

If you can't read the detail, save the image to your computer then enlarge/ zoom in. It's a high resolution scan so it opens up well.

Lucky 13



I want one!

Wassell for sale.

Ready for your next project maybe, a couple of neat parts we pulled of the rack.

Wassell banana tank; 2.2 US galls, its in primer and needs a re-paint. £100.  SOLD

Wassell ribbed fender, never been drilled or used, still with its original paint. Also £100. SOLD