Before you bolt down the cams, insert a long thin screwdriver into a plug hole and turn the crank and ride the piston up and down. When the piston is halfway up, all pistons will be halfway. That gives you enough space inside to turn cams without the danger of the valves hitting anything.
________________________________ From: Kim Paddock <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Wed, February 24, 2010 12:43:24 AM Subject: Re: [Nighthawk Lovers] cam timing I'll grow a third hand and all will be well. I plan on spending some time on this for sure. ________________________________ From: Dennis Hammerl <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Tue, February 23, 2010 9:19:38 PM Subject: Re: [Nighthawk Lovers] cam timing I have saved many E-mails, I'll look for more info from another job that was done. I don't type well enough to keep redoing everything. It's not an easy job, too many movable parts that don't want to move the right way. The easiest thing to move is the crank. You have to estimate how things will look and keep trying. I advise against prying the cams around because they are pushing down valves and can be downright difficult. The best method is to index the cam and intake sprocket without the bolts in, rotate the crank to align the bolt holes, all the while keeping the chain tension by hand. ________________________________ From: Kim Paddock <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Tue, February 23, 2010 10:17:03 PM Subject: Re: [Nighthawk Lovers] cam timing Thanks as always Dennis. I really don't want to go through this again so advice from a real tech like you is priceless. I should have the tools to the cams but I'll have to check to make sure. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm waiting for the weather to calm down a bit right now. I hate having to wait but there's too much dust and dirt blowing around. ________________________________ From: Dennis Hammerl <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Mon, February 22, 2010 10:56:22 PM Subject: Re: [Nighthawk Lovers] cam timing The Honda manual assumes a certain degree of proficiency and omits much detail. Timing an engine with high mileage adds a bit of difficulty. The cam chain has stretched and you must allow for that. As such, the correct method is to have tension from the crank to intake cam and cam to cam. The loose run should be from the exhaust cam to the crank. Understand that the crank is pulling the chain and the intake cam. (direction of rotation) The tensioner is on the loose run of the chain. Doing it this way, you can have the tensioner pinned open to make the job go easy. If you get it right, when the pin is pulled out it will be right on with no chain slack. Don't be upset if you don't get the first couple of tries. Two of my techs will ask me to do it for them. It's all too easy to make it look right and then after a couple of rotations of the crank, it comes up timed late. Start over. If you have a degree wheel and a dial gauge, it's a great time to degree in the cams and pick up a ton of power. Huge increase. # With high mileage, the chain stretches, the valves open late... power loss # to cut down on frustration, try this; index the crank and get the intake cam close (hard to do because of the valves opening) Now turn the crank to match up the holes. Put one bolt in finger tight and re-index the crank and check where the marks are. Hard to describe unless I could show you. It's a trick to make it go better. # this is a NO beer job. ________________________________ From: Kim Paddock <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Mon, February 22, 2010 9:40:57 AM Subject: Re: [Nighthawk Lovers] cam timing Fantastic! I'm putting the top end together now. I just needed some good pictures so that I can get the timing down on the top end. I'm open to any tips, of course, that are not in the factory manual. (I know, I know....the factory manual tells you EVERYTHING right? ;).) HotrodMamma. ________________________________ From: Dennis Hammerl <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Sun, February 21, 2010 10:09:23 PM Subject: [Nighthawk Lovers] cam timing There's more of these with other notes. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Nighthawk Motorcycle Lovers!" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nighthawk_lovers?hl=en.
