Ralph it reminds me of when I was a line mechanic working for Porsche. I don't know how many times I would go to the parts department and install a bad new part. One time I went through three alternators for a 911 before I got a good one. Same thing with new cam chain tension, bad out of the box....Frustrating but goes with the territory I guess. Good video...Thanks
You are right. We all have to watch out for fautly parts. As you say ...goes with the territory. Makes a lot of work sometimes but satisfying when you find it and fix it for the customer. Thanks for commenting.
Thanks Ed. I am sure anyone who works on old bikes has run into this in the past. Seems like just part of doing business these days. One has to be careful and it is very frustrating at times. Thanks for commenting.
Don't know about being a master. Just an old guy trying and hopefully helping some people out with the little I know. Thanks for the kind words. Can't live in your shop as I never seem to leave mine ha ha. Thanks for commenting.
Wow Ralph!!! Your amazing, it’s a real bummer you had to go through all that!!! I love the way you troubleshot your way through all that, i can appreciate the way your mind thinks!!! And thank you for sharing all that information with us!!! Question- when you were checking the cam run out with the .010 feeler, do you have to torque down the cam cover mounting bolts? because ultimately the gasket crushes to a thinner thickness and that would effect the cam run out measurement? 👍🍺 SLICK
Thanks Slick. Sometimes I am my own worst enemy when it comes to things. I can be a bit anal sometimes ha ha. You are exactly right and yes I did torque before checking the spacing. I might have missed making that clear. The cam cover will crush on an average of .006" when torqued. I get into it a bit more in the next video. Hope all is well. Thanks for commenting.
Great video, a year a ago I rebuilt my old 85 fxr and ran into exactly the same problem with 2 different chrome aftermarket cam covers. They were total junk
I am sure it is a problem for many. We are swamped with many bad aftermarket parts. It often seems like we are a place for the offshore to dump their factory seconds. It chews up our valuable time wasted on these problems. Thanks for commenting.
Good video Ralph. Too bad you had to go through all that, but thats what we can expect from Tiwan Ted these days. Its sucks too, there use to be quality aftermarket parts out there. Thanks for the shout and i loved the video
Thanks Hippie. We all have to deal with bad parts and you are right, it is only getting worse, no middle of the road parts anymore. Either good or bad. And thanks to you I got a new work shirt to wear ...ha ha. All the best and thanks for the comment! Apprecited.
Good job Ralph. I always avoid V twin Mfg. parts because of poor fitment issues. I noticed you put your lifter blocks on without using a tapered alignment tool. I have never trusted my eyes to get them lined up right. Keep up the shovelhead videos.
The tool is not really necessary with these types of blocks. They are needed however with the Evo style ones, and I use them for those. Great comment! Thanks!
@@itsmytimeletsgo hey Ralph, when you were working on that Merch 120 you showed the custom oil filter with the mounting bracket and you were showing the two lines that were attached, do you recall which one went to the oil pump and which one went to the return side? I purchased the exact same oil filter and the housing, but no instruction were included.
@@alexaccica957 Do not know for sure. But if you take the filter off and look at the holes in the mount the small hole is usually the feed (from the motor) and the large hole, in the center, is the return (back to the motor). Hope that helps you out.
Aboot to do the cam on our 78, hopefully I dont run into your issues as I dont have your skills or equipment. Swapping a Evo cam out for a Shovel cam trying to address high engine oil temp. Very informative video.
@@itsmytimeletsgo thanks for the reply, in spite of the wrong cam it was nice and quiet down there so the gear is coming off the wrong and being used on the correct cam with the stock cover
There is no particual brand, other that S&S or Jim's ,if you can afford them. Other than that I use the aftermarket, when I can get a good one. Good luck and thanks for the question.
They are for helping keeping the right space between the cam, and the pinion gear, for different cover fit. You can step up or down, by thousands of an inch, depending on what is happening. To tight will whine and to loose will cause chatter and cause noise. The different pinion gears help with that making the two meshing gears fit better. Great question! Hope that helps you out. Thanks for commenting.
Great video and the aftermarket stuff is going to get worst since it is coming from foreign countries and now that Harley is building a plant in Taiwan and they have a plant in India what kind of junk will be coming from them
Aftermarket stuff is getting worse for sure. You pretty well have to buy brand name quality to be sure, espeicially when it is an engine part etc. I have had some complete failures with products that used be a good brand name, and then they switched to overseas production, and quality went done the shitter. Lifters in particular. I will not use their stuff today. Thanks for commenting.
No I have not done anything of this order but I am trying to figure out what Speedo I need to run right now my Speedo is 10 mph faster.. so far I've tried one from Dixie which made it 20 mph faster and I am driving it off the front tire because my transmission is not stock.. so I would really like to find a speedo and drive unit and I don't know if it's 1 to 1:21 or there's some other weird something in the 2.695.. I would like to find something That would work together of course I filled with it so much now I need a cable cuz my cable is falling apart... used
Let us know if you had problems like this. Leave us a comment.
Awesome video thank you Enjoy !!!!!
Thank you glad you liked it and Thanks for commenting.
Ralph it reminds me of when I was a line mechanic working for Porsche. I don't know how many times I would go to the parts department and install a bad new part. One time I went through three alternators for a 911 before I got a good one. Same thing with new cam chain tension, bad out of the box....Frustrating but goes with the territory I guess. Good video...Thanks
You are right. We all have to watch out for fautly parts. As you say ...goes with the territory. Makes a lot of work sometimes but satisfying when you find it and fix it for the customer. Thanks for commenting.
Good content slick an hippie sent me here glad they did
Glad you visitied the boys as well and thanks for checking out my channel and commenting. Hope you find some other videos interesting as well.
Another great video, Ralph. It’s nice to get home, sit at the table, and watch your videos, sippin on a crown & 7
Nothing better than sitting back, with your favorite drink, and enjoying our video. Thanks for commenting.
Great video, I like the Aluminum Cam cover better than the Chrome one, also I have run into plenty of faulty aftermarket crap myself. Good job.
Thanks Ed. I am sure anyone who works on old bikes has run into this in the past. Seems like just part of doing business these days. One has to be careful and it is very frustrating at times. Thanks for commenting.
Great lesson learned with the crappy cam covers. Thanks.
Stuff happens as you go. Thanks for commenting.
Once again, a master at work! Great stuff Ralph! Would you be interested in coming to live in my shop? Lol 😂😂😂
Don't know about being a master. Just an old guy trying and hopefully helping some people out with the little I know. Thanks for the kind words. Can't live in your shop as I never seem to leave mine ha ha. Thanks for commenting.
Wow Ralph!!! Your amazing, it’s a real bummer you had to go through all that!!! I love the way you troubleshot your way through all that, i can appreciate the way your mind thinks!!! And thank you for sharing all that information with us!!! Question- when you were checking the cam run out with the .010 feeler, do you have to torque down the cam cover mounting bolts? because ultimately the gasket crushes to a thinner thickness and that would effect the cam run out measurement? 👍🍺 SLICK
Thanks Slick. Sometimes I am my own worst enemy when it comes to things. I can be a bit anal sometimes ha ha. You are exactly right and yes I did torque before checking the spacing. I might have missed making that clear. The cam cover will crush on an average of .006" when torqued. I get into it a bit more in the next video. Hope all is well. Thanks for commenting.
Wow what a great video. So sorry it’s been a bit of a struggle. Hopefully moving forward will be smooth Choppering,, see you soon 😁🇨🇦
No apology necessary. Its been a struggle Gus, but I do enjoy the challenge. Keeps things interesting ha ha. Thanks for commenting.
But I do enjoy and have learned very much from watching your videos keep them coming thanks buddy...
Thanks for letting me know you enjoy them. Means a lot. Thanks for commenting.
Great video, a year a ago I rebuilt my old 85 fxr and ran into exactly the same problem with 2 different chrome aftermarket cam covers. They were total junk
I am sure it is a problem for many. We are swamped with many bad aftermarket parts. It often seems like we are a place for the offshore to dump their factory seconds. It chews up our valuable time wasted on these problems. Thanks for commenting.
Good video Ralph. Too bad you had to go through all that, but thats what we can expect from Tiwan Ted these days. Its sucks too, there use to be quality aftermarket parts out there. Thanks for the shout and i loved the video
Thanks Hippie. We all have to deal with bad parts and you are right, it is only getting worse, no middle of the road parts anymore. Either good or bad. And thanks to you I got a new work shirt to wear ...ha ha. All the best and thanks for the comment! Apprecited.
Good idea with those piston plates!
Thanks they work very well. Thanks for commenting!
Good job Ralph. I always avoid V twin Mfg. parts because of poor fitment issues. I noticed you put your lifter blocks on without using a tapered alignment tool. I have never trusted my eyes to get them lined up right. Keep up the shovelhead videos.
The tool is not really necessary with these types of blocks. They are needed however with the Evo style ones, and I use them for those. Great comment! Thanks!
Great content keep up the good work, sir. I’m also big fan of Merch Engines. Gerry also assisted me on my custom chopper.
Gerry is a great guy and man he can build a strong motor! Thanks for the encouragement and commenting.
@@itsmytimeletsgo hey Ralph, when you were working on that Merch 120 you showed the custom oil filter with the mounting bracket and you were showing the two lines that were attached, do you recall which one went to the oil pump and which one went to the return side? I purchased the exact same oil filter and the housing, but no instruction were included.
@@alexaccica957 Do not know for sure. But if you take the filter off and look at the holes in the mount the small hole is usually the feed (from the motor) and the large hole, in the center, is the return (back to the motor). Hope that helps you out.
Aboot to do the cam on our 78, hopefully I dont run into your issues as I dont have your skills or equipment. Swapping a Evo cam out for a Shovel cam trying to address high engine oil temp.
Very informative video.
I hope all goes well for you. Just be sure of your spacing and fit. Shovels should have a shovel cam shaft. Thanks for commenting.
@@itsmytimeletsgo thanks for the reply, in spite of the wrong cam it was nice and quiet down there so the gear is coming off the wrong and being used on the correct cam with the stock cover
Great video. When buying replacement cam covers, is there a brand you have had better luck with?
There is no particual brand, other that S&S or Jim's ,if you can afford them. Other than that I use the aftermarket, when I can get a good one. Good luck and thanks for the question.
i try to always use genuine Harlry stuff just fits better no head aches.
Nice to use when you can affford it or if you bike is no more than 10 years old. Most older stuff is obsolite from Harley. Thanks for commenting.
The cylinder plates are cool, Ralph...did you say you sell them?
Yes I do. You can contact me through the email on my channel if you are interested. Thanks for your interest and commenting.
😎👍😎
Why are there different cam gear colors..what does the color justify..??
What about those 2 questionable threaded holes..??
They are for helping keeping the right space between the cam, and the pinion gear, for different cover fit. You can step up or down, by thousands of an inch, depending on what is happening. To tight will whine and to loose will cause chatter and cause noise. The different pinion gears help with that making the two meshing gears fit better. Great question! Hope that helps you out. Thanks for commenting.
Sounds like a V twin part. I once bought a V twin oil tank copy of a stock Harley and it did not come close to fitting. Never had success with them.
You have to be careful with aftermarket stuff. It can cause you some grief sometimes. Thanks for commenting.
Ralph you've be3n doing this forever, when in doubt it's the aftermarket parts. Don't question your skills.
I still do question myself all the time. Just my chase for perfection that gets me in trouble doubting myself I guess. Thanks for the comment.
Great video and the aftermarket stuff is going to get worst since it is coming from foreign countries and now that Harley is building a plant in Taiwan and they have a plant in India what kind of junk will be coming from them
Aftermarket stuff is getting worse for sure. You pretty well have to buy brand name quality to be sure, espeicially when it is an engine part etc. I have had some complete failures with products that used be a good brand name, and then they switched to overseas production, and quality went done the shitter. Lifters in particular. I will not use their stuff today. Thanks for commenting.
No I have not done anything of this order but I am trying to figure out what Speedo I need to run right now my Speedo is 10 mph faster.. so far I've tried one from Dixie which made it 20 mph faster and I am driving it off the front tire because my transmission is not stock.. so I would really like to find a speedo and drive unit and I don't know if it's 1 to 1:21 or there's some other weird something in the 2.695.. I would like to find something
That would work together of course I filled with it so much now I need a cable cuz my cable is falling apart... used
Can't really help you there. But I have had those problems in the past as well. Thanks for commenting.
The repop cam covers are notorious for being junk.
Yes had a few bad ones over the years. Thanks for commenting.
More than likely it's the cam cover. These aftermarket parts aren't what they used to be.
Sure was, not one, but all three cam covers that were bad. But we got it now. Thanks for commenting.
bling ain't the thing.
ouch!, watching those cover screws being torqued up made me cringe and loctite, really?.
Sometimes things don't go easy. You need locktight and a lot of things. Thanks for commenting.