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1948-up Aluminum oil pump gears & body

Here's the story so far of Fritz' oil pump project. For more info and for feed-back on the questions he raises,  please write Fritz at fvkri@therim.com New email address 10.28.99!

Updated 4.1.99

As for my project it got started in 1983 when I got my first Harley. It was used and I could get parts for it plus it was replaceable if anything happen to it. I had my Chief since 1976 and always had trouble keeping the top end in the engine. When I took it apart, for the third time, to completely restore the bike I found the oil pump all chewed up inside. I couldn't find any parts for it at the time and that was the start of my 16 year long project. I hope to finish putting it back together this year.

The pump started out when a friend of mine at work helped me measure out all the dimensions I would need to make my drawings of the pump. We worked for a machine shop that had the latest in inspection equipment, so the process turned out quite easy and accurate. Next I bought a small milling machine and proceeded to make a pump body. Once I moved from Wisconsin to Arizona in 1991, I found a person to cut the teeth on the gears. I bought a lathe and made some blanks and he did a real good job of cutting the teeth on them.To the human eye one couldn't tell the difference between these and the NOS new ones.

I had them tested by a gentleman, that has a machine built just for testing these pumps. He tested these gears and pump housing in many combinations with other parts, new and used, against a new old stock [ nos ] pump assembly. He supplied me with the documented test results, listing the data to conclude, that the pump performed favorable in every way. In most tests it out performs them and in the few that it did not, it still tested far above his minimum standards! Since these tests were done, some slight changes were made for the production batch and he reported to me, by phone, that they out performed my original prototype gear set! Many thanks to him and his associates for the time and effort they donated in the testing of these gears and pump. If any of you have any questions in regards to any of these parts please feel free to contact me directly! (e-mail address at top of page)

I have since changed my ideas towards the design of the pump body. I thought that if a person would take the pump body and thin cover and put them together and then cut it down the middle, then one would have two separate oil pumps.  One would be for the feed and the other would be for for the scavenge still one on top the other. Both halves would be aligned by the two idler pins on each end that the outside gears pivot on. This design would help replace worn areas on used pump and distributor housing assemblies.

This is the project that I would like to take to the next level. Right now I'm stuck not knowing if this is something that people would except as a replacement for there old pumps. I also exploreing the idea of useing different materials such as cast iron insted of aluminum. It would make it more durable against abrasives in the oil. Oil filters would help but most of these machines didn't have one and most people probably won't put one on because its not original.

This pretty well sums up my efforts thus far. If you have any more questions about it feel free to contact me about it.

Thanks
Fritz 


Also from Fritz; this very neat oil filter adapter for Chiefs. Again in Fritz' own words.

This oil filter adapter was totally made by me and is a second generation adapter. I made one before that was made from steel and welded together. It looked ok and it mounted in the place of the ignition coil with a small bracket welded in front to mount the coil in a vertical position. The only thing about it, is it just didn't have that factory look to it. Thats why I redid it, but I still have to decide on a coil mount yet. Maybe behind the horn on the crash bar. I would like to get prints made of it. I made it as I went along, some times it turns out better that way.

Enough for know, let me know if there is any other questions you might like answers for. Fritz fvkri@therim.com New email address 10.28.99!
 

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