At this point, you should replace the cams, lifters and inner cam bearings, This is the heart of your engine and there were known issues back then. Makes for better piece of mind

 

Measure them with a bore gauge , it would be unwise of me to give advise on parts I can not see with my own eyes or have not measured. Also , I have no idea what your budget is , the fact you are willing to go with used parts kinda gives me a clue about that.

 

Why not? ... people do on here all the time ?



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Everybody has a right to be wrong.

 

I appreciate all the advice I receive from the forum. Unfortunately, I don't have a bore gauge, but the scoring is all at the top so I'll do what I can with a micrometer. Budget is low and getting lower as I was hoping to have spent all the money I needed to when I purchased parts.

The cams and lifters I picked up are from the same engine, with 15k less miles on them. What's so bad about that? I'd be putting brand new parts in a used engine, so should I just replace the whole engine by that logic?

 

There were so many cam and lifter issues back then, I wouldn't install used parts of the same vintage. There was even a run of lifters that the pins would walk out - and that required cases. So no, the logic to install new parts doesn't carry over to installing a new engine. People who know are trying to save you grief in the long run.

 

You're probably ok with the used cams ...look them over good. If they're from the same year or era there's a chance they'll do the same thing as yours did. So if you put them in don't forget about them...take a look once a year to catch it before it goes to far. Part of owning a harley is accepting the fact that some engine parts are consumable maintenance items...lifters and inner cam bearings are a couple of examples. Lots of guys run used cams but for every 100 that use used cams I'll bet you a new set of lifters that it's less than 10 percent that put in used lifters. It's the price we pay to say we ride a harley...affectionately called the harley tax. Those lifter bores are the result of metal going through there. Can you run it??? Sure ...should you run it ??? Probably not...itll more than likely affect your oil pressure, how much??? Who knows. What's the inside of your oil pump look like? The inside of the cam plate where the put sits against? What's your pinion shaft look like where it passes through the oil pump and cam plate? Did you measure the pump and plate to see if they're still in spec...im betting they're not and the inside of your pump probably shows signs of doubling as metal grinder. Not trying to ruin your day just hate to see you spend what you have only to have in grenade anyway and worse yet you get hurt in the process. Just take your time and do what you can when you can.

 

Pump and plate are both being replaced, but I will check them. I didn't see any metal in the pump when I pulled it out though. No marring or anything where the plate and pump join. Pinion shaft looks clean to me, but I will double check. I appreciate any and all guidance from forum members.