BREAKING

Tech Tips/ DIY

Twin Cam Swapin’!

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Article By: Daniel Donley – Pandemonium Custom Choppers – www.pandemoniumc2.com

Originally Published In The May 2014 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine

This month I’m headed to Dead End Cycles in Defiance, Ohio. Jayme Price — the head wrench and owner of the shop — is a local go-to guy for your late model Harley needs. So for this month, Jayme will be showing you how to do a cam swap on a 2007 or newer Twin Cam touring model.

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To start off the cam swap, Jayme removed the air filter assembly and push rod tube clips. The lower tubes were then slid up, and held with a bent paper clip and a lanyard so he could access the push rods. Then out came the bolt cutters and he cut the sucker in half!

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With the push rod tubes and push rods out of the way, Jayme uses a heavy duty binder clip, that can be bought at any office supply store, and removed its wire handles. This is then used for holding up the lifters so the cams can be taken off without the lifters falling out.

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The fasteners that hold the cam cover on are then removed.

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A light bump with a rubber mallet may be necessary to break the cam cover gasket seal.

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The front cam shoe is then removed?

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…it is badly worn and will need replaced.

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The two sprocket retaining bolts were then removed.

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Now we’ll take off the sprockets and chain.

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Here, the Allen head bolts that hold the cam plate to the engine block as well as the cam plate were also removed.

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With the cam plate on the work bench, the rear cam chain shoe was detached and inspected for wear.

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The wear on the rear shoe is very minimal and will be reused.

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The ‘07 and later cams are not press fitted into the cam plate like earlier years.

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So, by removing the snap rings on the front cam you are able to slide the cams right out.

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With the cams taken out, it’s time to check the oil pressure relief valve. This tool puts air pressure on the relief valve, at which point you can see when the valve starts to relieve. The valve should be seated to at least 30 PSI and completely open at 60 PSI. Jayme says he has seen this valve fail many times, and as a result of it failing, he’s seen catastrophic engine failure. So I would definitely make sure you don’t skip this step.

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While testing this cam plate’s pressure relief valve, the valve was fully open at 20 PSI (not good)! That means all the oil pressure this bike was getting was 20 PSI max! To fix this, we will remove the roll pin holding the spring and valve in place. Then, remove the spring and valve, inspecting the valve for any wear.

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Reinstall the valve, and with a drift punch, lightly tap on it with a hammer. What this does is makes a new seat for the valve in its body.

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With the pressure relief valve reassembled, it was tested again. The valve slowly started to open at 55 PSI and was fully open at 62. This bike will now have long life oil pressure.

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The only thing left to do is remove the inner cam bearings.

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We put the inner cam bearing tool in place to remove the bearings.

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Well there you have it: a Twin Cam tear down to install some new hot rod cams! Check back next month and we are gonna show you how to put It all back together! If you have any questions for Jayme at Dead End Cycles feel free to email him or call the shop: deadendcycles@artelco. net or 419-393-2574

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