Late model shovel oil pump on a pan Shop Dope Discuss Late model shovel oil pump on a pan in the MOTORCYCLES forums; According to easy riders magazine you can take any late model shovel oil pump and slap it on seemingly any old pan. They make it sound like they just bolt ...

[Ohio48]

According to easy riders magazine you can take any late model shovel oil pump and slap it on seemingly any old pan. They make it sound like they just bolt right on. Easy riders mentions that you should drill a hole to help get oil to the top end but that’s just about it.
Im not that familiar with Harleys, so does any one know if its really that easy? I happen to have a spare 81 shovel oil pump and I do plan to get a pan some day. If I have to drill and tap holes I figure stock is good enough but if its as easy as easy riders says I may have to try it. I have read that oil pressure in the old pans is somewhat lacking

[sqdealgeorge]

There is a plate that S&S sells that bolts to the oil pump surface You do the proper drilling to feed oil to the pinion shaft and voila the shovel pump will work But if the pan comes with an orig cast iron pump leave it be Knucks and pans ran and run for years without the so called pressure these later model pumps put out If you ever need the plate from S&S let me know

[panacea]

My 51 had a shovel pump on it when I got it...Mike

[flat-happy]

usually the problem with pans not having enough oil pressure is--lots of guys rebuild using a 3 hole crank pin. a 1 hole is sufficient if you aren't racing it. i personally think a 2 hole is best but they are sometimes hard as heck to find. i know of lots of times i have listened to conversations when someone was trashing the panhead oil pumps when i knew the guys talking, and knew for a fact they were car mechanics and had no training on motorcycles at all much less low pressure high volume dry sump motors like a harley ot the engines used by all of nascar today. if burnouts on a panhead are your thing then change the pump----and buy a set of std heads while yer at it

[Ohio48]

thanks all for the info

its about what i expected, I dont plan on doing burn outs or racing my bike but i do do a lot of low speed riding on dirt and gravel roads. No one thinks i will have any issues?

[Rubone]

Why should you have issues. When your bike was new it likely spent most of its time at slow speeds on dirt and gravel roads. That was the norm then!
Robbie
And as a side note, '68 - '72 pumps are pretty much a bolt on. '73 and later pumps have a different drilling to the cases and you need to match them up to work correctly.

[Ohio48]

do you have a pic of a '68 - '72 pump? Im going to a swap meet soon and I'd like to be able to identify one

[ElectraGlideInBlue]

Originally Posted by Ohio48

do you have a pic of a '68

On the bike

[Rubone]

Here are a couple scans to help ID the pump.
Robbie

[ElectraGlideInBlue]

Here is a schematic for breakdown..