1992 Sportster, camshafts (gears?) and pushrods - help!?

Jimbonaut

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Thought it was worth an ask here. I'm helping a mate out with his sportster and - as is the nature of these things - one thing has led to another. In replacing the stator we removed the right hand side engine cover which houses the camshaft gear things - getting them back in is now not possible due to downward tension in the pushrods.

Is there an easy (step by step) way that we can relieve this pushrod tension in order to be able to reinstall the cam gears (or whatever they're called)? We've got the tank off, along with the upper and middle rocker covers. Cheers guys, any help would be great - I need to get his bike out of my garage asap!
 
You're supposed to remove the pushrods when you pull the cover and to replace it. In order to get it back on, you have to line up all four camshafts, the idler gear shaft and the pinion gear shaft- plus the dowel pins. It's pretty much impossible to do that when you're working against the valve spring pressure.
 
Cheers Irk - given that all four camshafts have now been removed, what we now need to do is remove (or at least loosen the tension from) the pushrods. What I'm trying to figure out is how to do that - is it simply a matter of removing the bolts securing the rocker arms? Would this release pressure on the pushrods themselves, and then allow installation of the four camshafts?
 
It's been a minute since I built that Hugger Sportster, but if I remember right, you just pull the covers and remove them through the rocker boxes.
 
Jimbonaut said:
Thanks man, that sounds doable. Replacing the pushrods is no biggy either?
No. In fact, S&S sells some killer adjustable pushrods for these Evo motors. One version allows you to pull them and adjust without
pulling the rocker cover.
 
All buttoned up, no pasa nada. First time I've had anything to do with the internals of a Sportster - much better understanding now of how the camshaft gears and pushrods work. Cheers mate.
 
Jimbonaut said:
All buttoned up, no pasa nada. First time I've had anything to do with the internals of a Sportster - much better understanding now of how the camshaft gears and pushrods work. Cheers mate.
My man.
 
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