Knuckle Head Leaks

There are a lot of places for a Knuckle to leak oil. Here is a pretty easy and basic tip for assembling Knuckle heads that may help eliminate one.

One thing I see a lot when I dissasemble Knuck heads is that once you remove the rocker boxes, often the lower spring covers (cups) will be loose. Since said cups are held in place by the valve guides, it is an indication that the guide has moved slightly. Obviously if that cup is loose there is nothing to keep oil from running out the bottom.









Lip on guide






What is not so apparent is that the replacement parts available today can be part of the problem! A stock OEM valve guide had a shoulder that measured approximatley .103". The stock OEM lower spring collar had a counterbore in the bottom of it that was approximately .093" deep. That means (if my math skills are still intact) the valve spring would put full spring pressure on the guide, holding it tight down on the cup, and in turn the cup tight down on the head.








Counterbore on lower collar







Unfortunatley, the likelyhood of finding a stock OEM guide is about the same as you stumbling on Elvis' personal Harley (signed under the seat: with love, Prissila). Besides, even if you found the guides, they wouldn't really be the ideal material for use with todays fuels. So it is a given that you will be using reproduction guides.

Here's the problem, though. A typical reproduction valve guide will have a lip that measures only approximately .092". Those of you with higher math skills (or a calculator handy) already see the problem. That's right. The lower collar will no longer hold the guide down, so if the guide moves at all there is nothing to keep the oil from seeping under the lip of the guide and through the guide hole in the cup. True there is still spring pressure on the cup (since the lower collar is now setting on the cup instead of the guide) but that presssure is not concentrated as it should be.

My solution is to machine abut .010" off the bottom of the lower collar. I also use aircraft grade Permatex on both sides of the gaskets that go under the cups, as well as Three-Bond sealer under the lip of the guide itself. While it may be next to impossible to prevent every bit of oil seepage from your Knuckle top end, everything you can do to prevent it is a step in the right direction!

Whose Slave are You?

This Sunday morning our pastor continued his series in the book of Romans. The subject was that of being a slave. The text was Romans chapters 6 and 7. One of the most profound statements found in this section of scripture is that every one of us is a slave. Either a slave of God, or a slave of sin.

Romans 6:16-18 Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness.

Another point was about the "benifits package" that comes with being the property of either of these owners. Romans 6: 20-22 spells this out; For when ye were the servants of sin, ye were free from righteousness. What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life.

If the matter of who one would choose to serve was simply a matter weighing the benifits, then there is little doubt that everyone would choose to serve God. Holiness in this life, and everlasting life at the end. Pretty much a "no brainer" compared to the alternative of continueing in sin with death as the end. Unfortunatley the unbeliever has little desire for holiness in this life and no real faith that there is anything after death.

The last point Pastor Voigt had (among other points that I have not mentioned) was that of of the saved being more than slaves in God's eyes. In John 15:15 Jesus said: Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

And again in 1 John 3: 1 the bible says: Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

For myself, I feel unbeleivably blessed to be a slave of God, unprofitable though I am. To be called a friend? That is overpowering. And to be called a son? There just are no words! What a wonderful, kind, merciful God of grace we have!

~2.2~