I had the three points of junction covered, then I decided to fabricate this nifty bracket to make it a four point deal. This tank was on there solid. Here's a shot of my cheap-ass 1 inch exhaust / frame clamp hanging from the frame cross member and bolted to the back of the hex tan's built in battery box. Seriously, I don't have a lot of room to work in and it doesn't help that I'm a slob by nature. This is the fabulous Warren Fuller workshop - maybe 3 feet by 4 feet of actual working surface nailed to the wall in the corner of the garage.

So I really started this project by buying a transmission case for $95. That's a pretty smoking deal even for an aftermarket 5 speed softail case. Next I acquired the roller you saw on the first page - so here was my problem: I had the makings of a 94-99 drivetrain with my new trans case, but I had a 77 FX frame (normally a four speed rig). Now I know you can do a five-speed in a four-speed case, but those things cost some fair coin (and they're probably worth it) but I had recently heard about a buddy of mine who had stuffed a six speed softail trans in an old-style swingarm by hacking (er, "machining") a half moon out of the trans case. By digging deep into the Midwest catalog - I came up with a trans adapter plate that mated a 5 speed softail trans to a four speed frame. It said it could be used for "four speed or paughco rigid"  - so someone, somewhere had made this work before. A trip to a local swap meet turned up a complete 2003 Road King gear set (including trap door, all pawls, I mean, everything except the case) for a mere $265. I knew that this gearset would slide right into my aftermarket case. The die were cast - it was going to be a 77 FX with some sort of modified 94-99 style drivetrain. MORE>