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Cam swap questions

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Old Mar 28, 2010 | 10:59 AM
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I am in the middle of swapping my stock cams for Wood TW-6-6 and now I have some questions. First does anyone know if the lifters have a certain direction the oil hole goes, away from the motor or toward. The reason I removed the lifters was that I couldn't get the binder clip to attach. My second question is should I be worried that when rotate the engine w/ just the cam support plate installed, I don't see any oil coming out of any holes. Also, I didn't remove the oil pump, but when I removed the cam support plate the outer most oil pump gears came loose and before reinstalling plate I reinstalled the gears. My third question I was following atrain's write-up and he didn't write any thing about packing the oil pump w/ assembly lube, should I do that. Also I didn't check on the o-rings that go between cam support plate and the case, do you guys think I should tear it apart to check the o-rings. Thanks for the help, this is my first time tearing into the twin cam.
 
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Old Mar 28, 2010 | 11:37 AM
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Lifters: it doesnt matter which way the hole faces but I always face them out for consistancy, if your reusing them they should go back in the same way they came out, if they have over 5000 miles on them I would replace them as wear on the old rollers contacting the new cam lobes COULD cause a problem, not always but COULD. Its your motor its up to you if you want to take that chance.

Oil: you will have to rotate the motor quite a bit to get oil movong through the pump, if your just rotating by hand dont worry. Before you fire it up, with the plugs still out, crank to motor over with the starter until the oil light goes out. It may take a while, up to a minute, once it goes out wait until the light comes back on then crank it for another 10-15 seconds after the light goes out again. You are now primed.

Oil pump: are you sure that you replaced the parts that fell out back in there correctly? Usually the outer feed gears the first seperator plate and the spacer sping fall out. Ive seen seasond tech put the spring in then the gears and them the plate, THAT will result in NO oil pressure. You should fill the gerotor gears with oil before installing them into the pump housing.

O-Rings: if you didnt make sure they are there you should disassemble and make sure, they sometimes stay in place, sometimes stick to the cam plate and sometimes they fall out when your not looking. If your not sure, you should be!
 
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Old Mar 28, 2010 | 11:40 AM
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Thanks HOG DOC
 
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Old Mar 28, 2010 | 12:05 PM
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Just to add to what hogdoc gave you. The service manual will show the correct sequence of parts for putting the oil pump back together. I almost did mine wrong because of the way I thought they came out when I pulled the cam support plate. As for the binder clips, there's nothing that they fit into. They press against the lip at the top of the lifter. The outward force from the clip spring will keep the lifters from dropping as long as you don't mess with them. Mine stayed put over night.
 
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Old Mar 28, 2010 | 10:22 PM
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I took the binder clips a step further because there isnt much of a lip for them to grab and are easy to knock loose when doing other work.

I ground the ends of the clips to a small enough flat that it will fit in the snap ring groove in the lifter. I take a 90* pick and spin the snap rings so that the gaps are 180* apart. Now the binder clip locks in and wont slip out. Plus if you remove the lifters it identifies which one goes where.
 
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Old Mar 28, 2010 | 10:25 PM
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Or you could always buy the overpriced magnetic lifter holders that HD now sells! I use the binder clips also.
 
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Old Mar 28, 2010 | 10:28 PM
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Originally Posted by dawg
Or you could always buy the overpriced, not needed magnetic lifter holders that HD now sells!
No thanks, I dont like to introduce magnatism into engine parts, dont want to hold fragments in any place that tends to rub metal parts together.
 
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