82 ironhead how to find part numbers and a fork tube question please

The gurus at the Ironhead Sportster Garage on Facebook are pretty well united in their opinion that the S&S Super E is way too big a carb for your bike. It will never run great with one, they say. Those experts include dealership mechanics from when Ironheads were new.
They highly recommend the factory carb.
As someone who had zero issues over 25yrs with a butterfly Keihin OEM carb, i would follow that advice.
 
Thanks for all the advice again chaps. Am off to Chester in the morning to pick up an S&S super E so will be hunting for a S&S 67-028 inlet manifold if anyone has one lurking around.
My wheel building chap as I will call him has been bitten in the past with people bringing HD hubs to him with a bag of spokes and a rim to find it doesn't come together as they expected re alignment. So the wheel has to go to him complete and then he takes it apart, once all parts are checked. I also bought a complete new not OEM rear wheel that was guaranteed to fitr the WG I owned, only to find it didn't fit and it had to be packed up and sent back to the supplier. Stupidly I didn't check before I fitted the tyre, sprocket and disc with new stretch bolts.
NOS spokes and rims appear to be available, probably a benefit of being a late model. Though the OEM rims are a fearsome price, so is the cost of a full stainless rebuild at a reputable builder so it is cheaper to go stock at this moment.
Trying to do the maths on every part that will come from overseas to keep below the £135 threshold for the excise men.
I have locked my Excell build sheet now to stop adding bits as it was getting out of hand. and this will not be a concourse rebuild, just a "looks OK and I know its safe enough to rag" build.
Plan so far
Fork tubes look like I will try some repos as opposed to getting re-ground as its surprisingly cheaper
All new brake lines will be hunted out NOS hopefully. If not then I will find repos. They were an MOT cautionary 12 years ago.
I have the battery tray but none of the other bits to hold the battery down and this looks like a problem area to get bits for, over here. I could get this fabbed at work if needs be but would prefer an original bit
Wheels rebuilt with NOS rims and spokes hopefully
Tank clean and seal, possibly (its the larger tank and looks, well a bit large). Possibly swap out with a mint smaller tank once I have scanned all the years tank numbers to see how late the 82 stock tank ran for and what's available.
Period tank decals still available by the looks of it
The chewed up Kehin will be hoofed into the box of spares and replaced with the super E. To be honest this is an indulgence just because I always liked the look and there is a cheap one available.
Tinware will be blasted at work and then off for spraying black.
All fasteners that haven't been bodged will be put back as is.
No alloy polishing at all. Personally I love polishing alloy but once you start on one little bit, I cannot stop and then it all has to be polished and I don't want that this time.
NOS or repo cables from wherever
So key next part is the S&S 67-028 manifold as cannot bear the thought of cost new
 
The gurus at the Ironhead Sportster Garage on Facebook are pretty well united in their opinion that the S&S Super E is way too big a carb for your bike. It will never run great with one, they say. Those experts include dealership mechanics from when Ironheads were new.
They highly recommend the factory carb.
As someone who had zero issues over 25yrs with a butterfly Keihin OEM carb, i would follow that advice.
Hi Dave, I have read much the same and also from a lot of chaps who happily run with their super E's and only whinge about the low fuel economy. Honestly its an indulgence I am going to try purely because I like the look of em and always have. If it turns out to be a bad idea then I can always hunt out something more appropriate later and then flog on the super E if needs be to an Evo owner. The carb and manifold the bike came with, had been subject to massive abuse and ultra bodging of note so not a viable option to refurb. I do have an adapter for a "modern" carb onto a stock OEM manifold so do have a number of options later on.
 
Hi Dave, I have read much the same and also from a lot of chaps who happily run with their super E's and only whinge about the low fuel economy. Honestly its an indulgence I am going to try purely because I like the look of em and always have. If it turns out to be a bad idea then I can always hunt out something more appropriate later and then flog on the super E if needs be to an Evo owner. The carb and manifold the bike came with, had been subject to massive abuse and ultra bodging of note so not a viable option to refurb. I do have an adapter for a "modern" carb onto a stock OEM manifold so do have a number of options later on.
And I should add i know there are adapters to allow an SnS filter housing to be used with alternate carbs but I am going to humour myself with this one and if it runs ok then that's fine
 
Hi Mr Speed, I think all Ironheads and the early Evo's need the gearbox's shimming. It's not until the 5 speed Evo's that the box is simplified, possibly with only half the parts of the 4 speeds. Done properly and ridden with more revs than a Big Twin they are a good ,strong box.

Ron.
 
Hi Ron, yes, you're right, I wasn't thinking well at that moment! There were beneficial changes that helped during the ironhead era, but the shimming remained a pain. I had a 5 speed in a 1200S and it was a great box, which (happily) I never had to tear apart.
 
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