Ironhead Shovster build take2

[billeuze]

Originally Posted by ryder rick

If the nut is not on and torqued how can the bearings be held tightly together?

Yes is the answer.

Your measurement may be good, but it is not a proper measurement.

Baisley doesn't do them in the motor because you have to disassemble to reset,
He uses a press to smash the bearings together and then measures the play.
He also does not accept the default clearance, I believe he tightens them up a taste by surface grinding the spacer.

OK, I torqued on the nut to 160 ft-lbs. now my end play is barely perceptible. there is movement of the dial gauge but only about .0003

I assume that's not enough, unless someone knows different... The manual says .001 - .007

I have another spacer that's .01 bigger than the one I installed. I can take it in to a machine shop to surface grind down. what should I aim for? should I take .008 off of it so I end up with .002 endplay. or take off .009 to get .001. its new bearings and cups that are in there if that makes any difference.

[kitabel]

Evo rockers?
Just a guess: the intake is worse, the exhaust is better.

[needspeed]

Is this a new bearing? On 1977 and up the large snap ring that goes between the outer bearing races is part of the assembly and its thickness plays a part in the end play. If it's a new bearing you should replace the snap ring with the new one or at least measure to see if the old one matches the new one.

Tightening the nut ensures that the inner bearings are tight to the inner spacer but does not necessarily make the outer races tight to the snap ring. If they are not fully seated against the snap ring the end play will be reduced even with the nut tight.

If the whole bearing assembly is new you should have proper endplay without having to adjust the inner spacer thickness. (as long as quality control at the bearing manufacturer is doing it's job. )

The gap in the snap ring should be installed at 12 o'clock.

[billeuze]

First of all thanks to Ryder Rick for alerting me to my error and probably saving me from ruining the bearing assembly. I looked up a few forum posts and found that having less than 1 thou end play is a sure way to toast your bearings.

So I got out my home made bottle jack press:

and spent all afternoon setting it up to press out the flywheels then with a few cranks of the lever out it came landing on the nice soft bed of rages I made for it:


Then using a homemade substitute for a surface grinder

I ground my spare spacer down to .002 thicker than the original.

After pulling the flywheel back into the left case and torquing it down, I was expecting .002 of clearance. Well I am a little shy, but still within specs:


And yes Needspeed. These are new bearings but I didn't get a set with included spacers. I got just the bearings and the cups from the local bearing supply and used the original spacer rings. I had a spare set of spacers too, not sure where it came from but that is the inner spacer that I was able to grind down.