Putting an Andrews EV 27 in a 97 Dyna. I can't find a cam shim thin enough from regular shim kits that will give the correct clearance. Thinnest I could find was .042" and it gives zero clearance. I spoke to Zippers and they had nothing less than .050". My machinist said theres not enough meat there for the magnetic bed on his surface grinder to hold. I can't find anything thinner thru the usual sources. Andrews hasn't called back. With just that OEM shim/thrust washer the end play is obviously greater than .040". I know I can get a thicker cover gasket and get a little more room, but I'd rather use a standard thickness one.

​​​​Any kind of help, suggestions, sources would be greatly appreciated.

 

IIRC, the tolerance on that dimension is HUGE. Are you trying to make it "perfect"?

 

Just checked my kit and smallest is .050", you got something else going on there, too fat a cam bushing in the cone cover or Andrews f**king up again, not a fan of their products, had numerous problems with them over the years.

Far as the local machinist I have used a high density magnet to hold a small shim to be ground before, slapped the magnet on a piece of thicker steel so the mag base grab it on the grinder. Just take small passes is all.

 

Absolutely. It's what I do and chasing perfection is why I have my rep.

 

You using the thicker MLS metal cover gasket or the cheapy paper?

 

I was going to suggest the Cometic AFM cam chest gasket.. It should get you there...

 

I'd never use a paper gasket for that. It's AFM but all I had was the thinner of the two available. I'm going to order a pack of the .063" thick ones today. Been doing this forever; this was a first!

 

I used the thinner of the two. That's what I use regularly but ordering a pack of the thicker ones today. I'm going to have my machinist take a few thou off the cam cover bushing. I've installed dozens of cams. This was a first.

 

Run into that issue a few times with Andrews cams. Wait till you get one with the gear 20 degrees off out of the box new

 

Good info from all the above. One more thing that can queer your measurements - the Andrews gears are all size "red" but they are at the top of the scale, size wise. Meaning if you have a red pinion that's also toward the upper end of the size scale, it's gonna whine like a banshee. And...

If by chance you have a larger than red pinion (yellow, white, orange) it'll have the teeth meshed so tight with the cover on, assuming you can get it on with extreme mis-match, it's difficult or impossible to move the cam in/out to even measure the actual end play.

I've had it happen a couple times by being careless and not measuring the pinion first. It may not be your situation, but thought it worth mentioning.