chain drive cam gear bolt replacement

[deerjoe]

Gettin ready to tear 'er down for a 95" build w/s.e. flat tops, 211 cams and Hildreth performance heads, and I have all the parts I need, except I am wondering if I need to buy some new bolts for the cam gears.  I know they stretch when torqued, and the manual hints at replacing them with new ones....any thoughts?  thanks for the input...j

[smoserx1]

I can remember when changing cams last winter the instruction sheet with the cams saying to get the retention kit (new bolts), and I did, but I really wonder why?  All bolts stretch when torqued--that is how they stay tight, but the steel should be elastic enough that if properly torqued, the stretch is relieved when the bolt is removed.  Some bolts are designed to permanently stretch at a certain torque.  I have seen some cylinder head bolts like this, and they come with stern warnings to only use them once.  Maybe that is what we have here.  To be safe, I would replace them.  You don't want your cam sprockets  coming off going down the road (happened with the earliest twin cams).

[Ratfade]

If you're going to fret about it afterwards, go ahead and change them. Do you need to? Probably not. I have 85,000 miles on my bike, and I've changed the cams a couple of times. Never changed the bolts and never worried about it (and I do tend to worry about stuff).

[x52gnr]

I reused mine with no ill effects as of yet...Used the loc-tite as per service manual and tourqued as per spec....

[ederdelyi]

These aren't torque to yield bolts ... but, if you have to eat the result of a failure in the cam chest it's a good CYA to use new. Your call, most can and do get by without replacing them ... do you want to be the one that doesn't? If reusing, make sure to clean the old Loctite of of both the bolts and their mating threads and both should be free of oil.