Taking apart a 1980 Harley Davidson Ironhead Engine

So a couple weeks ago, our class got to take apart a 1980 Harley Davidson Ironhead engine.  I was really looking forward to because my instructor has often preached at how simple and self explanatory it is when it comes to taking apart and rebuilding Harley Davidson engines.  The real issue with the engine that we had was that we had to split apart the crankcase to see what was damaged on the crankshaft.

Often I have heard at how much of a pain it is when it comes to splitting apart crank cases, so this was also another new on hands situation for me to see what its really like for a Harley Davidson engine.  Honestly splitting apart the crankcase was the easiest obstacle compared to taking off the cylinder heads off.

We might have been about an hour passed since we started taking the engine apart and when we got to the point of splitting the case, our instructor used a razor blade to make some leg room to split it apart evenly without causing damage where it seals.  We thought we had all the screws and bolts loose, but apparently one snuck up on us as one bolt was still hiding in the corner of the crankcase where we couldn't see.  My instructor kept commenting about how easily the crankcase usually splits apart in a matter of no time and when we found that last bolt it was a matter of "ooooh, that's why."

I really want to get my hands on a newer model Harley Davidson engine to get a real feeler about how simple theses engines are. Where as it usually takes a full day taking apart and rebuilding a Japanese engine from let's say a sportbike, it only takes about 2-3 hours to disassemble and rebuild a Harley Davidson engine.