Cams

[cajun1957a]

The 68 xlch that i recently picked up has since been torn down into little bitty pieces so that I can clean and restore as much as i can.  The pistons were 10:1's and im going to go back to 9:1's.  Cylinders and pistons were scored pretty bad as well as two broken rings.  Oddly it ran real good.   Can someone tell me a good brand of cams to put in this, without having to do any head work?  I want a little more than stock.  Is there any real advantage, and will i realize a definate power increase?  Are there dissadvantages to going from  stock cams?  This bike is a kicker only.

randy

[saltcaveminer]

sifton minus minus were the street cams of the day. there are some real good Andrews cams available too.remember  just changing cams will change the power band and not necessarily increase power.Salty

[1972XlchBobber]

So I removed the right side cover, push rods and cams.

To reassemble I checked the oil pump 'special dot' with the vertical line on the crankshaft.  This was correct.

When I inserted the cams with all the lines touching, the oil pump shaft 'special dot' has moved over one tooth to the left.  The cam insertion begins with the proper position of the pinion shaft.

Is this normal?

Thanks, Mike

[1972XlchBobber]

OK, I checked the manual on my previous post.  It explains that once the dot on the oil pump is matched to the vertical line on the crank shaft that the dot can be ignored for the remainder of the camshaft installation procedures and timing.

Now, I have a question concerning the cams themselves.  In the rear of the cam, the part that is inserted into the backing plates, there is a small raised shoulder.  I'm not sure if this shoulder is deliberate or it is a wear indication of my particular cams.  The shoulder is a small raised section that fits nicely into the beveled backing plate.  It appears to be deliberate, but all my shims came out with a wear indication that resembled the shoulder.  It seams like a lousy design to have your shims get all bent up like that.  Is this deliberate or are my cams worn down?

Thanks, Mike

[saltcaveminer]

its normal to have a shoulder on the cams.check the cams as per the manual i might suggest you replace the cam roller bearings now(while you have her open)i like to have at least one shim per side.Salty

[1972XlchBobber]

Has anyone built a simple tool to remove cam bearings from inside the case?

Thanks, Mike

[jmanjeff]

I have a BLIND HOLE BEARING PULLER   you can get one Here for 40 bucks

[1972XlchBobber]

Thanks, I did not think of HF.  I'll look into that.  Mike

[eglideic]

 Forget Harbor Freight. Those pullers are available for FREE through AutoZones Loan A Tool program. Just dont break it, and you can use it for FREE.

[LONE WOLF]

In the "old days" when Sportsters were setup for racing, all the cam shims were taken out - if you didn't the shims would eventually get ground up and into the oil - not good. The do make a little more noise, but they stayed together.

[Ironheadmike]

I used a concrete anchor bolt and attached it to a slide hammer