Engine Step 3 - Cam Gears and Cover

Life's a bitch...   Thank God there's Harleys...

After cleaning and inspecting all four Harley cam gears and tappets, and after checking the tolerance on the bearings, we found that the original HD parts could simply be reused. To offset the classic blue-grey colour of the Ironhead Cam Cover, we replaced all nuts and bolts with the more pronounced chrome cap style nuts by Colony Machine (Stock no. 8502 - for Sportsters 1971-1973).

Harley Davidson Ironhead Sportster cam gears, ready for test fitting.

Here you see the cam gears in place during test fitting. Luckily we could re-use the original HD parts.

Take five, time for a beer!

Harley cam gears and tappets in place, everything lined up correctly, ready to install the cam cover.

We mounted the Cam Cover using new chrome bolts by Colony, which are a joy to work with!

Here's the Cam Cover mounted. To offset that classic blue-grey colour (although we think it's beautiful, we realize it remains seriously old school), we decided to replace all visible nuts and bolts of our Ironhead engine with the chrome cap style nuts by Colony Machine (Stock no. 8502 - for Sportsters 1971-1973). The cap-style nuts of this aftermarket kit have got more body than the original Allen style knurled type nuts, making them more pronounced.