free website stats program Take off cylinders and pistons | Harley Davidson Forums

Take off cylinders and pistons

dd1228

Active Member
OK all you experts out there, I think I may have messed up. I bought new take off 96 inch cylinders and pistons off an 08 twin cam to use on my on my 02 engine. Now I'm wondering if they will fit and if so can I use my original 02 heads? One parts guy at the dealership said no problem, and another guy was a little leery about fitment. I bought the parts on ebay for a good price, but they haven't arrived yet. I'm afraid of tearing into the engine only to find out nothing fits. Any advice?
 
The TC96 and TC88 share the same bore. The difference is the stroke. The TC88 has a 4.00" stroke and the TC96 has a 4.375" stroke.

So what does that mean with the parts you just bought?

You can use the cylinders but they are the same size as what you already have. You can not use the pistons because the wrist pin is in the wrong location. Even if you could use them and were to swap them out you would still end up with 88ci.

All is not necessarily lost. You can send them out to be bored out to 95-98ci and when the get back install them with minimal down time. Seasoned cylinders are better than new cylinders when it comes to boring.

You can use your 02 heads on them but I would recommend getting them ported. The early(99-05) heads don't flow that well. Or you can look for some 06-up heads which flow better. You will have to change the intake manifold also to use the newer heads.

HTH,
Randall
 
Thanks for the replies. Those are not the answers I wanted to hear! I thought I could just bolt on the new cylinders and pistons and have 96 inches of new engine. Oh well, I guess I'll have to have the new cylinders bored to match my existing pistons which are in 95 inch cylinders from the big bore kit in 2002. There just must be alot of wear on my cylinders after 68k miles cause of the piston slap. It's quite loud. I will also have my heads rebuilt and I would like to have them ported if money allows. We'll see. I'll keep you all apprised of my situation as time goes on. I don't plan on tearing into the engine till July when I'll be retired and have all the time in the world to work on this. Then it will be 110 degrees every day and too hot to ride anyway.
 
Thanks for the replies. Those are not the answers I wanted to hear! I thought I could just bolt on the new cylinders and pistons and have 96 inches of new engine. Oh well, I guess I'll have to have the new cylinders bored to match my existing pistons which are in 95 inch cylinders from the big bore kit in 2002. There just must be alot of wear on my cylinders after 68k miles cause of the piston slap. It's quite loud. I will also have my heads rebuilt and I would like to have them ported if money allows. We'll see. I'll keep you all apprised of my situation as time goes on. I don't plan on tearing into the engine till July when I'll be retired and have all the time in the world to work on this. Then it will be 110 degrees every day and too hot to ride anyway.

***************************************************************
Evo bikes were 4.25 stroke, TC were 4." stroke, and newer 07 TC and UP were 4.375"

I'd do this;

Bore your SEASONED cylinders out to 95" and put in New HD SE 10/1 pistons and have the pistons Bought and send them WITH the cylinders to the boring shop to make sure they Fit Them and bore/hone properly... GENERIC boring the cylinders is Not the way to go..... Measuring to the Pistons to the cylinders is a MUST........so there is NO piston slap as You all ready had That problem and don't need that again.....

If you want a good Head Man, I have used Bob Gage over in Yuma now .... Good Head Man Flowed and ported/manly valves and springs/set up my heads for G SS570's...... did all my heads while he was UP in Snohomish Wa..

I'd call Bob Gage and ask him if he does the boring there also??

Probably save as a package deal???


If so, let him do the whole job... You gotta Know IF you want to go with Lower torque cams OR ?????

signed....BUBBIE
 
Just one daft question here as i am not very knowledgeable about the newer engines if the newer engines use a longer stroke does that mean that the cylinder is of a different length from the shorter stroke or is it all in the crank where the differences are

Brian
 
Just one daft question here as i am not very knowledgeable about the newer engines if the newer engines use a longer stroke does that mean that the cylinder is of a different length from the shorter stroke or is it all in the crank where the differences are

Brian

Yes, the length of the stroke IS = to how long the cylinder is..
EVO's at 4 1/4 " cylinder to match
TC's at 4"............."............."
TC's at 4.375 " ............"..........

If he doesn't change out the crank when using the 96" barrels He will have a LOW deck(-.375) and No compression.. .375 / 3/8 of an inch is hard to fill..

strokes must match the cylinder length.. You are Spot On Brian

Even some of the condensed Soup Cans HD's use for Pistons won't do this function correctly.

signed....BUBBIE
 
Yes, the length of the stroke IS = to how long the cylinder is..
EVO's at 4 1/4 " cylinder to match
TC's at 4"............."............."
TC's at 4.375 " ............"..........

If he doesn't change out the crank when using the 96" barrels He will have a LOW deck(-.375) and No compression.. .375 / 3/8 of an inch is hard to fill..

strokes must match the cylinder length.. You are Spot On Brian

Even some of the condensed Soup Cans HD's use for Pistons won't do this function correctly.

signed....BUBBIE

Thanks Bubbie that is just about where my head was going so the new cylinders the op has bought are of no use to him unless he also replaces the crank

Brian
 
Yes, the length of the stroke IS = to how long the cylinder is..
EVO's at 4 1/4 " cylinder to match
TC's at 4"............."............."
TC's at 4.375 " ............"..........

If he doesn't change out the crank when using the 96" barrels He will have a LOW deck(-.375) and No compression.. .375 / 3/8 of an inch is hard to fill..

strokes must match the cylinder length.. You are Spot On Brian

Even some of the condensed Soup Cans HD's use for Pistons won't do this function correctly.

signed....BUBBIE
*********************************************
Now this I will have to look at..

If Special Pistons are used to Make the 4.375 stroke WORK in the standard sized cylinders like the stock 88 cu in size.... Maybe modified piston to pin and then Modified skirts to boot to miss the crank,,,, Then the Stock Cylinders Might be able to work.(?)

Top of piston IF flush with standard length barrels and the added .375 taken out at the bottom of piston to miss the cranks Longer .375" stroke THEN it would be workable...
I never have looked to see how HD did the increase in the stroke to 4.375" and Have Not compared the length of the New style 96' cylinders but will.. and report..


signed....BUBBIE
 
When you change to the stroker Crank 4.375 stroke you also need to use stroker pistons which have the wrist pin mounted higher to compensate for stroke? The skirts are shorter to allow clearance and not hit the piston oilers. When you go to longer stroke yet I believe you have to get the special stroker oilers which allow more clearance for piston skirts and extended stroke. I believe the cylinder height is the same (minus any manufacturing over/under allowances)

Signed - Bum
 
When you change to the stroker Crank 4.375 stroke you also need to use stroker pistons which have the wrist pin mounted higher to compensate for stroke? The skirts are shorter to allow clearance and not hit the piston oilers. When you go to longer stroke yet I believe you have to get the special stroker oilers which allow more clearance for piston skirts and extended stroke. I believe the cylinder height is the same (minus any manufacturing over/under allowances)

Signed - Bum
****************************************
I called HD parts and they said You can't Just buy a cylinder, The piston Must be bought with it on the 96" and probably so on the 103 110..

The Piston IS changed to make the .375 increase in the stroke and Parts thought the Heads were also changed for That New Piston also.. So he said..

If you measure the New cylinders when you get them... IF the same as your 88" cylinders You CAN use them. The bore on the 96" and the 88" should be the same because the increase of the cubic inches was in direct increase of with the longer stroke...

Piston modification is why it is said that the 96" run Hotter than the 88 cu. inchers.


Thanks BUM

signed....BUBBIE
 
Back
Top