Hi All, I'm looking for your thoughts on something I ran into today, what you can tell me about why it exist and finally how should I proceed. It has to do with K model cylinders and their Cylinder Oil Line Screws. See picture below.
I had a pair of 54KHK cylinders sleeved, they were about .120" over and had been running stock Indian Scout pistons. The rods had even been polished. The shop that sleeved the cylinders even commented on the cylinder work that they could tell had been done. What they forgot to do though was to drill the cylinder oiler hole through the new sleeves so I set out to do it. What I discovered was that the oil hole screws were so long that they appear to be blocking off the oil feed hole coming up through the base of the cylinder? I grabbed a set of 56 cylinders and checked their screws, they were both short and would appear to let oil flow. I then grabbed a set of 52 cylinders and checked their screws, they were both also short, same as the 56. I did not check the 56 cylinders to determine if they were KH or KHK cylinders. See below pictures.
I have heard some discussion from folks that these oiler holes were unnecessary and even affected performance? So I guess my questions are as follows:
Why would someone want to block off this oil hole?
Were the cylinder oil hole screws for all KHKs the long blocking version?
Should I drill the holes in the 54KHK sleeved cylinders and use the shorter screws?
Thanks for your thoughts and Happy Holidays to you all.
JerryR