Cam Plate Dimensions?
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Cam Plate Dimensions?
So after spending the money to have my crank properly balanced and welded at Dark Horse, (which is a wonderful thing!), I decided to save a little dough and bought a Mid USA brand cam plate. Well I run gear drive cams that were quiet on my stock cam plate but the Mid USA one is obviously machined wrong. The gears are way too loose and it really rattles. So I have my old cam plate but there's .003" wear in the crank bushing so I want to replace it and since I have access to bearing bronze I'm just going to do it myself. My question is, has anybody reverse engineered the cam plate dimensions? The dimensions I get are within tenths of 2-1/32" C/C on the cam shafts and if you split the difference and move straight down the crank center is 2-9/16". I figure that's probably correct as I don't know why an engineer would use a really strange dimension and not an easy fraction. Just wondered if anybody else had the same numbers? Once I'm sure of my dimensions I'm going to make a fixture that I can indicate in and bore the bushing exactly where it needs to be. I realize I could just buy oversize gears but I can do this for free and have it spot on. Besides, I prefer a bronze bushing over an aluminum bore any day!
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From: poway
No reason to make your own.. You can buy early bushings..
I had to replace one in a Delkron plate and use an early bushing.. I used a lathe with a faceplate. Indicated the hole so it was centered, and bored the bushing out to where the remainder pealed.. Pushed in the new one in wit the tailstock and bored it to size.. Delkron plates are machined flat so that you can come in from the pump side.. In your case I suspect that you have a later plate. Bolt the machined side of the plate to the face-plate and bore. Make a holder for the bushing, slide the bushing in from the spindle ends with some all-thread. Pull it into place and bore to size.. Early bronze bushings have straight knurls on the pump side to keep them from spinning and are driven in from the pump side.. They have an 0.033 hole in them to meter oil to the crank. So you need to make sure it's lined up..
I had to replace one in a Delkron plate and use an early bushing.. I used a lathe with a faceplate. Indicated the hole so it was centered, and bored the bushing out to where the remainder pealed.. Pushed in the new one in wit the tailstock and bored it to size.. Delkron plates are machined flat so that you can come in from the pump side.. In your case I suspect that you have a later plate. Bolt the machined side of the plate to the face-plate and bore. Make a holder for the bushing, slide the bushing in from the spindle ends with some all-thread. Pull it into place and bore to size.. Early bronze bushings have straight knurls on the pump side to keep them from spinning and are driven in from the pump side.. They have an 0.033 hole in them to meter oil to the crank. So you need to make sure it's lined up..
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I appreciate what you're saying but I can knock out a bushing in less than 20 minutes for free. I really want to make a fixture so I can make it quick and easy to do anybody's bike. I might even take that Mid USA plate and bore it out in the right location and put a bronze bushing in it. I'm just looking for some confirmation of my dimensions. I would also take the center to center distance of the cam gear to crank gear. Even the pitch diameter of the two gears would give me what I need. I could tear mine apart and measure everything but I'd like to leave it running until I have everything ready to go and do a quick swap of parts to minimize down time.
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From: poway
I appreciate what you're saying but I can knock out a bushing in less than 20 minutes for free. I really want to make a fixture so I can make it quick and easy to do anybody's bike. I might even take that Mid USA plate and bore it out in the right location and put a bronze bushing in it. I'm just looking for some confirmation of my dimensions. I would also take the center to center distance of the cam gear to crank gear. Even the pitch diameter of the two gears would give me what I need. I could tear mine apart and measure everything but I'd like to leave it running until I have everything ready to go and do a quick swap of parts to minimize down time.
Add.
No problem knocking one out..One of the reasons I gave you the orifice hole size and the info about the knurling.. I'd use something harder than 932 bronze.
Last edited by Max Headflow; Feb 1, 2015 at 03:51 PM. Reason: Add.
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Well to update I did make a fixture. I have two bosses that replicate the cam bearings screwed to a plate. I indicated one of the bosses to find center and then attached the cam plate. From there I split the difference between the two bosses and then cranked it 2.5625" on the y axis. I indicated the bore, without the bushing, and I was within .001". So for those who want to know, the cams center to center distance is 2.0325". If you go halfway between at 1.0156" on the X axis then move down 2.5625" you will be at the center of the crank bushing.
Now I want to take the billet plate and put it on the fixture and check where they put the crank bore, since it's too loose for my gears. I'll have to wait till my automotive project is done so I'll have room to work on the bike. It's too damn cold to leave the daily driver outside!
Thanks bwoltz for your suggestion.
Now I want to take the billet plate and put it on the fixture and check where they put the crank bore, since it's too loose for my gears. I'll have to wait till my automotive project is done so I'll have room to work on the bike. It's too damn cold to leave the daily driver outside!
Thanks bwoltz for your suggestion.
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