Well, I was excited when the UPS man came to the door today. I thought that I would be installing my new Gear Driven Cam set tonight, however, when I opened the boxes, I discovered that the drive gears were not yet pressed on to the cams. I was planning on using the freezer/oven method to install the bearings and install the cams into the plate. Has anyone tried this method with the drive gears and tiny little key.

If it can't be done, where would you all recomend that I go to have the gears pressed on. I hesitate to go to my local Indy shop, as he might be a little upset that I didnt buy the gear set from him.

 

Yes, use the oven/freezer method and you can use a socket and rubber mallet to tap 'em on.

Read/look through this LINK to help you out with the oven/freezer method

 

A large bench vise can be used as well. A little tougher to line up but do-able. BE carefull doing it without a press.

 

Thanks for the reply. It looks as if the cams came with the gears already pressed on in the link tha that you provided.

I understand the oven/freezer concept, however I am a bit nervous about freezing the key, heating the cam and the tapping the key into the side of the cam. It doesn't seem like I should be hitting the cam with anything on its side.

I just put the keys in the freezer and the cam in the oven, so I will let you know how it turns out.

 

I must not be doing this properly. It seems like the key is much too big for the slot in the side of the cam. I heated up the cam, chilled the key, and tried to tap it in with a mallet. I only got it to go in a tiny bit and then it stopped.

I pulled it out and the key actually has marks on the sides of it. Am I doing something wrong? I would think that the key should be snug, but not so tight that you would never be able to get it out.

 

Road King Kid, "may the force be with you".

Just don't follow this Murphey's Law: "If it don't fit, FORCE IT, if it breaks it probably wouldn't of worked anyways" - just kidding.


I had the same thing - oven/freezer method worked well. This should be a three step process. What I did: Part 1: Tap the keys into the shafts (very light taps - you can tell when the key is fully seated). Part 2: Put thecamsin the freezer for like one hour, then at like 30 minutes later put thegears in the oven at approx 300 degrees for like 30 minutes. Take out one cam from thefreezer (oven mit here (don't need your hands warming up the cam- I actually used a welding glove) - then take out one gear from the oven (mit as well) then slide on gear (like Dawg said, then put on the socket and make sure the gear is fully seated. Let these guys cool down normally for like a couple hours. Part 3: Put the cams back in thefreezer for like one hour, then at 30 minutes later, put the bearings in the oven for 30 minutes - pull out one set, bearing should drop right in place - but need to get a socket and tap the beaing down (make sure the socket fits the inner ring of the bearing).

 

My problem is that I cant even get the damn key to go into the cam. It is super tight. Are you saying that you didnt have to heat the cam and chill the key? I could probably wack away at it and get it to go in, however, I am telling you, that SOB will never come out. I can only assume that it is designed to come out, cause if not, then the key would just be cast into the cam.

Is it possible that I got the wrong keys? Is it possible that I am puttin them in upside down? The keys are the shape of a half moon, and I am trying to put the curved part into the cam leaving the flat part exposed?

I dont mean to sound like an idiot here, but I also dont want to mess this up.

Thanks for everyones patience.

Mike

 

The keys should be a snug fit into the grooves of the cams. They won't just drop in but you should be able to tap them into place with no heating or cooling necessary. They go into the dished area of the cam and should be flat across when seated to go in the groove of the gear. They are supposed to be a tight fit. They make a mechanical connection between the cam and gear to prevent the cam from spinning in the gear which would alter the timing.

 

Ok, I took he advice of 2005Ultra and just forced em in. I switched from the rubber matter to a regular hammer and tapped away. They are in far enough so that the gear will fit over the top, I just hope that they never need to come out, cause it just aint gonna happen.

Think I will wait till tomorrow to put the gears on. I have had enough excitement for one day and dont want to start breaking stuff.

Thanks guys

 

When you heated up the cam before installing the key..............it made the slot smaller because the metal expanded.

Install the hey with the cams at room temp, just set them in the slot and tap them down with a small hammer.

After that, put the cams in the freezer............and the gears in the oven. That will allow the gears to slide right onto the cams. Tap them down to make sure they are fully seated.............then put them back into the freezer, and put the bearings into the oven. Slide the bearings onto the cams........and tap them down to fully seat them also. Put the cams back into the freezer, and put the cam plate in the oven. Then align the cam "dots" and install them into the cam plate.

Make sure to use some loc-tite on the cam bearing retainer's 4 small screws.

Make sure all the "dots" are lined up too.

Steve