CAM & PINION GEAR

[upjohn]

Am fitting cam and pinion gear. Hears the problem. Andrews cam will not fit any of the pinion gears I have. Red is so tight motor won't turn. Tried other gears still to tight . I know I could get pins and measure, but trying to save a 100.00 bucks. Pressed off the cam gear and pressed on old Harley cam gear and tried it on an old harley pinion gear that was in the Pan back in the day. Worked , good movement back a forward with slight gear lash. I found an older Harley dealer who line reamed my bushings for newer gears. They are OK, but pinion bushing feels to tight. Says he left it that way to let it wear in. Hmmm. I put dye on the bushing and turned the motor several time and it took all the dye off. and you can feel the drag. What do you guys think??

[1962FLH]

I would hone the bushing just a little bit if it were mine. I beleve you need some room for oil.

[1950Panhead]

I had this same problem.
There are 6 different sizes of pinion gears for 36 to 53.
There are 9 different sizes of pinion gears for 54 to 65.
Buy the smallest and the middle, return the gear you don't use.
Jerry

[upjohn]

Thanks for the reply 1962FLH and 1950Panhead. Shouldn't the old cam gear and pinion work just as well? Anyone else?? You think I could get a bushing scraper and scrape off enough of the pinion shaft bushing to free it up a bit? What say you Cotten?

[Cotten]

Whoa now! The hardware is not in my hands, and I'm not psychic!

But indeed, inspection would include inking the bushing to indicate the interference,
and scrapeing with a triangular machinists' scraper to observe any improvement would be my first approach.

But it would be a far stretch to declare that would be a cure for miss-matched gears.

...Cotten

[upjohn]

Gears are not mis-matched. Cam gear and pinion gear is from the cam and pinion gear that was in the engine orriginally. Just pressed off the cam gear and pressed it on the Andrews cam. I scribed it and its pressed on correctly. Thanks Cotten. hope I am clear this time. Old FLH cam, and pinion gear.

[Huck]

But indeed, inspection would include inking the bushing to indicate the interference,
and scrapeing with a triangular machinists' scraper to observe any improvement would be my first approach.



...Cotten[/quote]

I followed this advice with mine, took a while but very happy with result.

[Cotten]

Upjohn!

So the variable would be the size of the Andrews journals?
And we are talking only about the cam cover bushings?

With no cam installed, if the cam cover fits upon the pinion bushing nicely, by no means would I relieve it further. A sweet pinion bushing is paramount.

So we must address the cam cover cam bushing.
Have mic'd the journal, and gauged the bushing bore?
Once again, scrapeing is as valuable for inspection as well as for precise final fitting;
Unfortunately, I am unable to produce a forum link for my previous attempts to describe the process, but it is mostly carefull observation, and the rest a test of patience.

Normally, with a common catalog bushing, the pinch will be next to the dowel pin, and little more.

"Reading glasses", at least, are a prudent aid for those of us over twenty-five years of age.

Frankly, the risks of scrapeing are less than throwing a reamer or un-piloted hone at it, so if you have a felt-tip marker and a sharp triangular scraper handy, please let us know what you encounter.

....Cotten

[Huck]

https://www.hydra-glide.net/phpBB3/view ... ing+reamer

[upjohn]

The cam cover bushing, and the case bushing has been sized to fit the Andrews cam journals. No problem there. The pinion shaft bushing is tight with cam cover on or off. I put dye all around the inside of the bushing Installed on motor with cam in and cam out. Turned motor over a couple of times. It took all the dye off. Please read first post. Thanks again guys. The old harley teck told me he left it tight to wear in. I just think it's to tight.

[Huck]

Same difference, push it straight on, straight off don't turn it. bet you'll find it tight were the pin was drove in. If thats the case work down the high spot, cover on and off 27 times. When I took my bushings out of the package they fit nice. I got in a hurry with the first 1, it ended up out in the bushes. Those little brushes make a nice finish after you get the hole back to round.

[58flh]

You should have no problems with the GEARS!-(old cam & old Pinion).---However everybody gave great advise on the bushings!--I scraped mine in the cover, after I got it close with the reamer!--Takes time but the end result WILL BE WORTH IT!---As long as you didnt go with a wild-lift & crazy duration ,your Cam & pinion gears are fine!--& what the hell its apart ,might as well throw a Degree-wheel on her & see how much diff. there is between the 2 cams!--Im not saying you have to -But The way I look at if you spent your hard earned $$$ on a cam---SQUEEZE all you can out of it!--My-2--GOOD-LUCK--RICHIE

[upjohn]

The cam is Andrew J. Again I would like to thank everyone who has contributed to this post. What a super group on this site. Anymore ideas and advice is welcome.

[Cotten]

Upjohn!

Just to cover all bases,
Can you put a dial indicator upon the end of the pinion shaft to measure its runout when the motor is turned through?

....Cotten