Cam Cover Chop - Wont Fit!!!!

[ninjaBBQ]

Long story short, I chopped up the cam cover on my 99' sporty and in the end it looks beautiful but won't fit! I've put in a solid 2 hours of trying to coax the cover on but no dice. At first I though I might have somehow warped the cam cover when I was working on it so I actually bought another chopped cover from a guy on fleabay who makes them and had 100% positive feedback. - Well, the new one doesn't fit either so I'm left with these three possibilities.

1) I don't know whatever magic trick is involved in getting cam covers back on.

2) Both of these covers are warped.

3) I've managed to do something to change the position of the cams that is causing the cover to not fit.

Thoughts?

[tattoo2303]

do you have the rocker boxes off?? if not maybe the pressure from the pushrods pushing on the cams is tweaking them

[tattoo2303]

take some pics!

[junkyardxl]

do you have the rocker boxes off?? if not maybe the pressure from the pushrods pushing on the cams is tweaking them

Nailed it. Loosen the rocker boxes.

[Incrediblah]

Nailed it. Loosen the rocker boxes.

Also, I'd use the one that came off of it originally, and not the one off ebay. Those bushings in the cam cover should be reamed to fit nicely already.

[Cory]

I don't think you could possibly warp the cam cover.

You should be taking the pressure off the cams but one easy way to cheat this is to pull the spark plugs. raise the rear tire off the ground and put the bike into 4th or 5th gear. Have a buddy rotate the tire(and engine) while you gently persuade the cover back on. Key word being gentle. The cams rotating will be enough to get the cover started then it should just slip right on. A little grease or oil will help things along

[ninjaBBQ]

Thanks guys! I'll give it a try this weekend and take some pictures too.

[JohnnyWolf]

I don't think you could possibly warp the cam cover.

You should be taking the pressure off the cams but one easy way to cheat this is to pull the spark plugs. raise the rear tire off the ground and put the bike into 4th or 5th gear. Have a buddy rotate the tire(and engine) while you gently persuade the cover back on. Key word being gentle. The cams rotating will be enough to get the cover started then it should just slip right on. A little grease or oil will help things along

That's what I did...but it took me a day to figure it out.. I just bumped the starter twice and the cover literally fell back on. I felt like an ass, but still felt good to figure it out.

[dberman]

Your covers are not warped. I had this problem once too. Had to call a mechanic to come to my house. I still feel pretty stupid about it.

The pushrods apply pressure to the cams so that the ends of the cam gears will not slide easily into the bushings on the cover. You can beat the hell out of the cover with a rubber mallet until it goes on (not recommended) or remove/loosen the rocker box covers. If the rocker box covers are off, the pushrods are loose and the gearcase cover slips on like magic.

[ninjaBBQ]

Success! No need to open up the rocker boxes, I put it in 5th and had a friend rotate the rear wheel while I held the cover up to the gears. Within 30 seconds it lined up and just kind of sucked the cover into place.

[tattoo2303]

Looks good too!