Cam Follower Removal

iandusud · Post by **iandusud** » Sun Jul 04, 2010 9:47 pm

Anyone got any good tips for removing the tappets and guides on a HW single? I've seen the tool in the FW Neil book but don't have one or machine tools to make one.

Cheers, IanEdited by - iandusud on 04 Jul 2010 8:53:21 PM

laxy · Post by **laxy** » Sun Jul 04, 2010 11:25 pm

I did this about 5 years ago and from memory it involved getting the crankcase halves VERY hot,like 30 mins. in an electric oven on full blast hot,then drifting the guides out of the case.Im not sure but I seem to remember if the guides are moved downwards they or the foot of the tappet foul on the crankcase so they have to be removed upwards and when they are high enough the tappet can be lowered and removed and then the guide can be pressed upwards and removed

iandusud · Post by **iandusud** » Mon Jul 05, 2010 8:13 am

Hi Laxy and thank you. I've thought about doing it like that. The problem is that you can't hit the follower / guide square on but I could make some sort of stepped drift. Anyway all ideas considered.

Ian

itma · Post by **itma** » Mon Jul 05, 2010 11:24 am

get it bloody hot, so that spit boils before it jumps off but not so hot they go blue!
use something soft brass ;alloy; wood and thinnish and hit on the guide not the foot.
Thats the way I have always done it and have not yet broken a tappet.

once it has moved up the housing, should you need a bit more persuasion use a wood rod and hit the middle of the foot never the edge as that will break it.

you could always make a wood plug to follow it up the tunnel and hit on that if the second suggestion bothers your sensibilities

I once tried the factory tool but frankly it was a pain in the neck and slow,

iandusud · Post by **iandusud** » Mon Jul 05, 2010 1:03 pm

Cheers Itma. Looks like I'm going to have to wait til the missus is out and put it in the oven

Ian

laxy · Post by **laxy** » Tue Jul 06, 2010 12:08 am

YOU dont say if you intend to replace the guide and tappet with new but I recently had to remove a VERY stubborn cam follower spindle on my twin and had to resort to welding a length of studding to the end of the spindle applying heat to where the spindle entered the crankcase and knocking the spindle out with a slide hammer action. You could give this a try as a last resort.AS far as putting engine parts in the oven is concerned make friends with a kitchen fitter,they rip out electric ovens from old kitchens on a weekly basis.For the price of a pint or two of falling down water you can have your own little oven in the corner of the garage and no one to tell you off

iandusud · Post by **iandusud** » Tue Jul 06, 2010 8:16 am

Hi Laxy. Thanks for the comments. I do intend to replace the follower so the slie hammer idea might be good one. I have though about picking up an old oven for the garage but to be honest I've got no room left for it!

Cheers, Ian

Don Madden · Post by **Don Madden** » Tue Jul 06, 2010 4:53 pm

I have one of the single burner propane camping stoves. Very compact & light for camping & ideal for heating big lumps of ali. Cheers, Don.

iandusud · Post by **iandusud** » Tue Jul 06, 2010 5:56 pm

Hi Don, I've used a camping stove for heating a cylinder head succesfully to remove valve guides, but I would prefer to heat a crankcase more evenly over a wider area than that of a gas ring. The other thing that worries me slightly about heating over a gas ring the fear of overheating.

Ian

woster · Post by **woster** » Tue Jul 06, 2010 9:13 pm

I have been very sucessfull in removing and replacing the tappet and its guide using a very large "c clamp" and combinations of sockets to use as spacers. I heated the case with an electric heat gun. All was done with the engine in the frame.