I was thinking of putting some Andrews 26 cams in my 88ci '06 Street Glide and was wondering if it would benefit with a thinner head gasket to bump up the compression. I'm not a gear head by any means so just trying to educate myself. I was thinking of reusing the stock push rods thus have access to the head gasket. I was thinking of doing it myself but have never tied into anything like that before. There is a thread in the touring section that has a step by step but even some of that went flyin by. Thanks

 

a set of 26 cams with around 9.6-1 works very well,go with the .030`s

 

For the very, very small gain in your 88" its not worth pulling the heads off and possibly braking the cylinder seal causing a leak, or pulling a cylinder stud... for a thinner head gasket unless you are also doing headwork and/or a 95" kit.

When reusing your stock push rods it is not necessary to remove the heads. Rockers and rocker covers, breather, yes.

 

Agree with the previous posters. If you are going to install the TW26, in addition to the .030" head gasket, you should have the heads decked and set/equalize chamber volume to produce 9.6 static CR; probably about 76cc which would require the removal of about .060" or a bit more from the head surface. This will make the heads work but they will be pretty much useless for future modifications with a higher lift cam. You can remove the heads and take measures to avoid breaking the cylinder base to case seal with a couple of piece of small PCV pipe and the two short head bolts at opposite corners of the cylinders; have done it many times.

The best upgrade for your bike would be to wait until you have the $$ for cylinder boring and 95" pistons and do the cam upgrade at that time. You won't have to deck the heads as much with the larger bore and you can have the heads re-worked with new guide seals and multi angle valve job. Your heads don't need portiing to respond to the TW26; they flow pretty well as is, and OK for that cam. You will be happy with the gain. JMHO

 

I was also pondering going 95" also so may have to keep saving my $$.