While there are plenty of threads and videos of cam changes, I thought that it might be fun to document for any first timers my first big service/mod. In fact, other than installing the exhaust and AC this has been my first time cracking into an internal combustion engine ever. I’ve included my “whoopsie and duh” moments as well. Mostly though, my hope is to show anyone who may be wary of doing their own work that it’s not tough and so far has been a heck of a lot of fun. Save yourself hundreds of dollars vs. the shop so that you can buy yourself new fun toys, and tools!

I may be one of those that won’t truly benefit much from a cam swap, but I’ve been determined since getting my bike to do my own servicing. Since the 5k service was coming up I decided that I also wanted to get into the engine and see what’s up.

I have only a small mish mash of tools in the house, so thanks to many recommendations on the forum Santa chose this one http://www.sears.com/craftsman-263-p...p-00940263000P. You can generally get it on sale for $180. It seems to have everything needed including plenty of Torx bits with ¼” drive and 3/8th” drive. Add to that a $12 set of snap ring pliers, a 10” drive extension ($10), set of Craftsman T-Handle Hex Keys (ball end) for $35, and a coupon for Harbor Freight that netted me 3 Torque wrenches for $12 each. I bought a ¼” in inch pounds, 3/8” ft lbs, and ½” ft lbs, and I was off to the races. Lots of dislike on the harbor freight wrenches but I figured so long as they’re calibrated properly that at that price it was worth it. Craftsman also has good deals on similar wrenches for $40 ea. Don’t’ forget your Shop manual, best $60 I ever spent!

My business is at the busiest during the holidays, so while I’ve been sitting on the parts to do the cam change I’ve been chomping at the bit to get started. Tip One, make sure you read and research, get all the stuff you need ahead of time to (hopefully) avoid multiple trips to the dealership. I watched videos including this one that I will also set up on the Ipad while I do the work . I also read a ton of forum threads (and I mean a ton). It was amazing all the different ways people use for this job, I got plenty of great information that I gleaned from each and every one, hopefully making the job easier! Thanks in advance to DJL, Scott, Prodrag, HD Pilot, Monster, HD Bobber, Blue Suede, UltraNutz and many others for their feedback, advice, and individual threads.
Based on my style of riding and feedback from people here I had decided to go with Andrews 57h cams ($200-$260, I got mine for $200 from Phat performance). I also went with adjustable pushrods (S&S Quickees $159 from Phat), to make the process easier and because the base circle of these cams are slightly smaller than stock. Long and the short of it is, with the adjustable rods you give yourself the option of exactly that, fine tuning vs. finding out later if there’s some type of problem and then needing to go in again to remove pushrods for access. In my mind it was smarter and easier. And since I was there I also replaced the stock lifters for S&S hydraulic ones ($104 Amazon).

Other items to remember, and who knows maybe I’ve forgotten a few at time of writing.
Tools:
Bearing tool for new cam bearings (I used Heartland puller/installer $95)
Locktite 262 and 243
Engine assembly lube
Bolt cutters if cutting out your push rods
Gam gear locker (do not really need but nice to have $17)
Paper clips and elastic bands to hold push rod tube covers
Brake cleaner (to get the packaging stuff off the cams as well as gasket residue removal)
Oil filter wrench or strap wrench if replacing oil and filter at same time

Parts above and beyond the cams, pushrods, and lifters (if replacing):
Torrington 168 Bearings x 2 ($14 Amazon)
Replacement O-rings for where oil pump mates with cam chest, there are 2 x part # 11301 and 1 part # 11293 total $4
Air cleaner gasket $3
Cam Chest Gasket (some say you can re-use, I figure for $6 why bother)
Cam shim/washer kit (just in case) $10 - Note, did not need in the end
SE heavy duty clutch spring $35
Oil for either top up or replacement
Formula for clutch spring replacement
Exhaust header gasket x 2 ($10)
Gaskets for lifter covers x 2 $6 (if removing lifters and covers)

Con't next post

 

Getting the party started, prep and fluids
Day 1. Of course that nice little one hour video doesn’t mention any of the prep needed. IRemoved my exhaust, and of course spent a while trying to see if I could get the 02 sensors out easily before remembering from my install that I should simply unplug the sensors from their clips, then I was easily able to remove my pipes (with sensors still in), and air cleaner. I probably could have kept my AC on, but thought it might be easier to access everything if I took it off. From the pic it seems like I may have to remove my foot peg and brake pedal. Between fumbling for the right sized tools, total time to remove exhaust and AC was about an hour. Crazy I know but like I said, I’m new at this and things like “which bolts to take off first, should I remove the 02 sensors while the pipes are still on”, etc. don’t come naturally.




http://i796.photobucket.com/albums/y...ps9a6f97b5.jpg

Whoops, forgot to put the bike on my jack. For any other newbies out there, I got a Sears Red jack for $80 then found the link to adapt the jack width for Dyna’s. Back is a little sore with bending over and under dealing with the exhaust. Trip #1 to the hardware store to get one of those rolling mechanic stools!

 

Day 2. Figured I’d drain the oil at this point too, replace the filter, and O-ring per 5k service. Couple of notes on this that might not be thought of, and I’ve never seen a video on how to prepare your area but… That drain plug, not so easy to get to (10" extension to the rescue), not to mention it took me 3 tries to figure out what socket size to use (in retrospect why the heck didn’t I write that down for next time). I couldn't get to it with the jack in the way so dropped the bike, removed the jack and put the big HD pan down.

Duh moment #2, shop manual says to warm up engine before emptying oil, but I have no exhaust or AC… ah well, drain away and see what happens.

Duh moment # 3, Put something down on the floor like cardboard!! No matter what happens oil seems to leak from places or gets spilled. I have a concrete floor along with an **** retentive wife. Not a good mix. Trying to wipe up oil stains with an old t-shirt… At any rate, got that done, filter changed as well so I can cross that off my list for the 5k service. Will put new oil in after cam change. Oh and by the way, spraying brake cleaner down to see if that helps clean the spilled oil, good way to get both stoned and sick at the same time.

Put the bike back on the jack to drain the primary of fluid for clutch spring replacement. Of course, the pan won’t fit underneath so I grab an empty jug of lemonade and sit there holding it while fluid drains.




Duh moment #4, just lay the freaking pan on top of the jack’s legs, might have been able to do that for oil too.

Finally some fun, get to crack into the primary, gotta take off the shift lever and foot peg mount. Foot peg mounts needed a long hex key with lots of torque. Thanks to HD Pilot for recommending this package many moons ago to help with tappet cover bolts http://www.sears.com/craftsman-6-pc-...p-00942606000P. Get into the primary, looks super cool in there. Looking forward to eventually getting more in depth with my understanding of clutches. Thankfully, all I need to do here is remove the bolts holding the spring in (metric), swap out the spring and bolt them down. At this point I am a little worried, do I use locktite when putting them back in? The manual doesn’t say so I chose not to. I figure the manual will always be my guide. Switching back and forth between sockets and torque wrenches is a little cumbersome, but I am enjoying the precision. Got the primary back on, make sure you follow the torque sequence in the manual. Derby cover off, filled primary with appropriate fluid (which of course comes in a 32oz bottle but manual says to use 32oz for wet or 40oz for dry and I’m not sure what this counts as so fingers crossed). Derby back on lickety split.







Whew, all done for the night. Wife and son were out overnight so now time to clean up. Bike comes off the jack and put back in place. Folding work table gone, tools put away. Place looks pretty decent so time for beer #3.

Time to do oil, primary, tool and table set up, clean up and tear down a whopping 4 hours (plus I had to build that little chair )! Alcohol and goofing around may have slowed me a bit too but that’s half the fun. Still seems excessive but I think now that I have an understanding of how to set up my area that next steps will go faster.

Two more days of hectic work and then Cam change on Monday!

 

Portable work shop!

 

[QUOTE=robbyville;13556767]...this has been my first time cracking into an internal combustion engine ever. ...
In honor of this you can play this while you tear into the motor!...https://www.youtube.com/watch?


Smart set of tools, good score! ...v=VQH8LcAsEvAhttp://www.sears.com/craftsman-263-p...p-00940263000P. ...I would also put my faith in Craftsman for the Torque wrenches, my 2cents on that one!... My Craftsman also has good deals on similar wrenches for $40 ea. Don’t’ forget your Shop manual, best $60 I ever spent!...

Sounds good that you're getting it done, getting hp out of job on the bike is one of the more rewarding and satisfying jobs, very worthwhile! Much more fun than swapping bars or something similar

 

Ah, Pink Floyd one of my favorites of all time! Thanks for reminding me, need to play with the angle on my bars when done! Not sure if I bring the bars a little closer to me if I'll need to adjust the angle of my throttle as well as levers though.

On the craftsman torque, yeah I gave it some thought, but I do have the HF ones for now. I had the calibration checked at our shop here at work and all good. I understand it's all about making sure they stay that way though.

Thanks for all your help, I tried to give you a shout out in my first long winded post. Monday can't come soon enough!

 

Looking good so far man! Glad you're enjoying it. Take your time. There's nothing worse than rushing a job then at the end seeing you forgot something or screwed something up. Believe me. I've been wrenching on things for 15+yrs. It's better to do it right the first time and reap the benefits of it, than have to do it twice due to negligence.

 

Awesome thread Robby! This is exactly the kind of thread I would love to see more often - lessons learned, parts list, pics, not stating the obvious but discussing the "grey" areas, etc.

I would never feel embarrassed about how long something may take to do - this is a large part of the fun, just enjoy and always keep asking "did I forget anything?" - paid off for me for sure!

Looking forward to the rest!

 

Good job man, take your time, take your time and take your time. Trust me it's much quicker to do it slowly then it is to have to take it back apart and fix something. Save the beer drinking until she's buttoned back up, I blew my jet ski up because I was drinking beer while putting it back together and overlooked a very important hose clamp.. Not good. Good luck with the cams and keep the good info and pics comin!

 

Thanks guys for the kind words and help!

This has been great so far and will definitely aid in the satisfaction of riding and ownership, unless of course the thing spontaneously combusts between my legs, then not so much

Two quick questions:

1. Do you apply a drop of the blue locktite to basically every small bolt even though the manual may not specify? It seemed as if the two drain plugs (oil and primary) may have had some type of thread sealant on since they kind of had that nice pop sound when I broke them loose. The ones on the clutch spring did not seem to have anything on them. I did not use thread lock on anything where the manual did not specify.

2. I need to clean and recharge my air filter (K&N round style). After I clean and dry do I apply the oil to both the inside and outside of the filter or just the outside and let it seep in?

thanks again,