Info for a restoration

[Shovel_It]

I have a 79' FXS and I'm thinking of restoring it to "nearly" stock and was curious where I could find pics, info, etc on this bike when it was new.... I say "nearly" because I'm not interested in a showroom stock looking bike, just the paint codes and some other things.... can you still send tin back to the MoCo and have it painted ? I was told years ago that a guy could do that... course, I guess if I could find the paint codes anybody could paint it.... anywhoo, lurked here for a long time and thought I'd finally post... hope you guys don't mind questions... the bike is in pieces on my garage floor so it should be a real adventure puttin' it back together....

[newultraclassic]

Originally Posted by Shovel_It

I have a 79' FXS and I'm thinking of restoring it to "nearly" stock and was curious where I could find pics, info, etc on this bike when it was new.... I say "nearly" because I'm not interested in a showroom stock looking bike, just the paint codes and some other things.... can you still send tin back to the MoCo and have it painted ? I was told years ago that a guy could do that... course, I guess if I could find the paint codes anybody could paint it.... anywhoo, lurked here for a long time and thought I'd finally post... hope you guys don't mind questions... the bike is in pieces on my garage floor so it should be a real adventure puttin' it back together....

Welcome to the Forum.

The best thing you could possibly do for restoring your bike would be to purchase the OEM service manual and parts catalog. In the service manual, there are lots of pictures of the bikes as they were originally outfitted.

The paint codes can be gotten from the dealer, believe it or not. Also, most all of the parts that you would need are available from independent dealers through catalog orders.

This may sound silly but I'm high in favor of running the shovelhead engines in stock form with only minor changes. Since they have hemispherical combustion chambers, they do not lend themselves to extreme high compression. It all depends on your desires, I know, but you can spend an awful lot of money making engine changes that mainly result in poor low speed performance and loss of longevity. Good luck on your restoration work.

I will now put on my flame suit and sit back and wait.

[tequacha]

Originally Posted by newultraclassic

Welcome to the Forum.

The best thing you could possibly do for restoring your bike would be to purchase the OEM service manual and parts catalog. In the service manual, there are lots of pictures of the bikes as they were originally outfitted.

The paint codes can be gotten from the dealer, believe it or not. Also, most all of the parts that you would need are available from independent dealers through catalog orders.

This may sound silly but I'm high in favor of running the shovelhead engines in stock form with only minor changes. Since they have hemispherical combustion chambers, they do not lend themselves to extreme high compression. It all depends on your desires, I know, but you can spend an awful lot of money making engine changes that mainly result in poor low speed performance and loss of longevity. Good luck on your restoration work.

I will now put on my flame suit and sit back and wait.

hemi combustion chambers dont do extreme compression. when are those T/F and F/C car guys gonna wake up?

[Shovel_It]

Thanks for the info so far... as far as the motor goes, I'm just gonna leave it alone.... bought it from a guy who really didn't even know what it had in it.... he was the second owner and he knew the first owner and said the first guy had put a big-bore kit in it.... he said while he owned it they went through 2 or 3 ??? starters because of the higher compression so I guess I'm just gonna have a competent wrench tear it down and see exactly what I have.... bike has 12k original miles on it so I'm hoping everything is on the up and up.... nice thing is, the 79's had the option of a 1200 or a 1340 and according to the VIN it's a 1340 to start with.... welp, back out to the garage and the parts cleaner tub.....

[newultraclassic]

Originally Posted by Shovel_It

Thanks for the info so far... as far as the motor goes, I'm just gonna leave it alone.... bought it from a guy who really didn't even know what it had in it.... he was the second owner and he knew the first owner and said the first guy had put a big-bore kit in it.... he said while he owned it they went through 2 or 3 ??? starters because of the higher compression so I guess I'm just gonna have a competent wrench tear it down and see exactly what I have.... bike has 12k original miles on it so I'm hoping everything is on the up and up.... nice thing is, the 79's had the option of a 1200 or a 1340 and according to the VIN it's a 1340 to start with.... welp, back out to the garage and the parts cleaner tub.....

Well, that's part of what I meant. Higher compression will eat starters. They are not all that good on the Shovelheads to begin with.

Just my thoughts on it but I prefer to leave them stock. I'm mainly interested in keeping mine running as I ride it about 100-150 miles a week when I can.

If you have big bore clinders your crankcases have been bored out. It's OK but there's no turning back at that point. I would prefer a slightly larger bore than a longer stroke myself.

Good luck

[Speedbump]

eBay, J&P Cycles and V-Twin. Between those three you can find any information or part! No Biker should be without these sources!!

[Shovel_It]

No doubt.... first place I go when I turn on the 'fuser is to all my eBay bookmarks.... haha.... got the newest V-Twin and Jireh catalogs too.... J&P always seemed kinda pricey though.... but they may carry better quality gadgets too.... some of the stuff in Jireh and the likes is junk.... I wanna do this rebuild right with no shortcuts on parts... hopefully end up with a bike that I can pass down to my son when it comes time.... always sold all my other Harleys in the past... this one isn't going anywhere....