From:Mark e-mail:hillm@canton.edu
Subject:RE: Reproduction Cylinder Date:Wed Feb 2 10:33:44 2011
Response to:3282
Hello Russell,

I have a couple of Kl pistons and may be able to come up with a spent cylinder with real bad wrist pin damage for pattern use. I know of three "legitimate" KL guys that need cylinders. As far as I know the only external differance is the SD stamped in to the base of the mounting flange. The only print data I have ever seen on the KL stuff are the letters that Steve Blancard compiled in the service info that he has provide. It is great stuff to read through and there is little KL stuff just enough to wet your appetite. Recently the print for the KJ/KL Intake manifold surfaced and sold on ebay. I was lucky to get a copy and very grateful. I think I read once or was told that when schwinn went down in the 1990's what was left of the bicyle empire was lots of the tech data for henderson and excelsior which was transfered to the AMA heritage mueseum. On several occasions at meets I have seen schwinn prints in the hands of members. I did not think much of it at the time. I now however feel that Indiana Jones put it best, "Those deserve to be in a muesum for all to veiw and work with." So the big question is, does anybody have a copy of the KL cylinder print? Hey, what the hell, I figured I would give it a shot. This can be done, it's not rocket science. It would be a hell of a lot easer to work with prints than starting from scratch but we will if we have to. I currently have a need for 8 sets of cylinders, 3 of which would be run on the 2012 Cannonball. The new AMCA judging rules allow for reproduction cylinders to be used without penalty. This would be an incentive for others to become involved in this project. Yes, old cylinders can be sleeved, fins can be repaired, and valve seats can be put in, I'm just sick of working with junk. Been there, done that, and got marginal results. I pose the following questions to my Henderson bretheren: 1. Was the bulk of the engineering data transferred to the AMA Heritage Foundation? 2. Does anyone know of or have the KL cylinder print? If so, can we use it? Yes, we would probably pay an engineering fee if the print is genuine. I realize it is intellectual property. We are practicing a dead religion here, folks. The cohort of 8 people I mentioned before want to ride and they are down for sets, one individual actually wants two. If you check out the cover of the AMCA magazine, you'll see his Henderson marching across. Let's get together and get this done. One last thing - nobody wants the '32 Ford syndrome here. There are actually now more "32 Fords registered than Henry actually made. Like it or not, we live in the age of Fake, nobody wants to see real KLs suffer with people overstamping the J. I would really like to see this project materialize. If you have any interest, now's your shot. Thanks for your consideration.
Mark

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I and I'm sure others are needing well made replacement cylinders. Does anyone out there know of these parts being reproduced and available. It is desireable to have the KL internal geometry.
I'm building a new engine and I have no usable cylinders. Thanks, Russell