Assembly Lube

I did my complete cam and bearings change without a press at all. I've got one but didn't use it. I just used an oven at about 400 degrees and my freezer. Either used the freezer to shrink a part or the oven to expand it. Worked great and made assembly very east. Put the cams & bearings in the oven for about 15-20 minutes and you can get the bearings off easily. Put the new ones on the same way-cams in the freezer and the bearings in the oven. You need to let parts cool between operations so you can get the right part to expand or contract.

Got the shingle up but can't figure out how to add photos. How do I get them in a post so they get bigger when someone clicks on them?

C'mon Ringo, the suspense is killin me!! I can't wait to see how easy/difficult it was to do because that's one of my next plans.

I just might do that Chuck. You would think that a guy who was able to rebuild his cams, would be able to post a couple of pic's.

Ok...here's the pics on the cam change. Hope it works. These show the HD chain and tensioner shoe design along with the plastic breather valve in the rocker box. Rest of pics will be in next post.

Ok... here's some more of the pics. One shows the tool for installing the inner cam bearings. And presto chango no more chains and shoes to worry about.

Here's a few other pics. Word to the wise, when you remove the rocker arm assembly and breather valve, oil sitting in the rocker box will find it's way into the bolt holes. Make sure you blow any oil out of the bottom of the bolt holes before you reassemble. A friend of mine found out the hard way. The casting is pretty thin where the two holes for the breather valves are drilled and tapped. If you put the bolts in without blowing out the oil, the bolt will act just like a hydraulic piston as you torque it down and will blow the bottom of the cassting out. Lucky for him there is no oil ports in this area and he was able to fix it with a little JB Weld.

Thanks fo rthe Kudo's Chuck...I knew I would figure it out sooner or later. As I always say, "my service is quick, no matter how long it takes". :roflmao: But the biggest reason I pulled the rocker box covers was to change the cheap plastic breather valves to the updated aluminum ones. It was either 03'or 04' when HD changed them over to aluminum. Some of the plastic ones were getting brittle and breaking down over time. Kinda like the tensioner shoes.

The only cost associated with removing the rocker box covers was new gaskets and O-rings. HD sells what they call the cam service gasket kit, ($65.00).. It includes all the gaskets and O-Rings for the rocker boxes, push rod tubes and everything in the cam chest. It also includes new inner and outer cam bearings. However I used the Thoringtons that came with the S&S gear set.

Not sure, but I think if I would have bought adjustable push rods and all the gaskets and O-Rings seperately for the push rod tubes and cam chest, it would have been more expensive. As far as the chrome on the bike, 98% of what you see came stock on the bike when I bought it.

Thanks again for the help with the pics.

Awesome pics Ringo!! BTW, the chrome looks fine to me.... So, I guess overall it wasn't too bad to convert?? It looks pretty straightforward but then again I've never done one. How's she run now with the new cams? Can you REALLY feel the difference? This is definitely one of my next projects. Nice job, and the pics are great!

No it didn't. My brother in-law and I split the costs, (about $250.00), and purchased the tools to remove and install all bearings and cams. Were going to convert his over in the spring. The wife and kids bought me a 12 ton hydraulic press from Harbor Freight for my birthday, and it worked perfect.

So even with buying all the tools, I have a total of about $800.00 in this project. The cheapest quote I got to have it done at a shop was $1750.00, and as high as $2300.00. So I saved at least over half, got some great experience, and I know it is done right.

Thanks Voodoo...it si actually very easy to do. Liek I said in my mega post, the most critical part of the hole jobe is making sure the cams and bearings are pressed in correctly. The tools I bought to remove and install the inner cam bearings make it pretty much impossible to scew it up. The tool and fixture used to install the gears onto the cam shafts and the beraings into the cam plate is a must as far as I'm concerned. It makes sure every thing is lined up when you press them in. I'll posts some pics of the tools I bought.

As far as it running better, I could tell the difference as soon as I took it for a ride. Especially at the low end, which is what I was looking for. I installed the Andrews TW-26G cam. Torque band is 1800-5500 RPM. Throttle response is great too because you no longer have to be concerned about variation in timing, that was a problem with the loose chain and tension shoe design. IMHO I think it was the best money I have spent on the bike so far, and if I didn't have the ability to do it myself, I'm sure I would have taken it in to have it done.

Hell...since Chuck taught me how to post pics, I might get carried away and start posting pics of everything Now where are those baby pics at? I know I have them here somewhere.:roflmao: :roflmao:

Hell...since Chuck taught me how to post pics, I might get carried away and start posting pics of everything Now where are those baby pics at? I know I have them here somewhere.:roflmao: :roflmao:[/QUOTE]

Hahahaha.....

Cool Ringo, that is definitely on my to do list now! Maybe you could rent those tools like Ken suggested a while back. That would help pay for them anyway....Just a thought.

crank runout

I am too mthinking about putting in gear drive cams but read somewhere that you have to make sure your crank runout is low enough for the gears. Does anyone know what that spec is? I want to take mine apart and make sure it is alright before I go and order a kit.

I believe in general they say .002 runout or less.