| Author | Message | ||
     Pizzaboy |
i am ready to do cams in my bike, i want get rid of the stock sportster cams and put the cams that come in EVERY OTHER BUELL EXCEPT THE S2!!!!!! when they say bolt in, exactly what is involved in doing this??? is it the type of job that can be done in a weekend afternoon with mostly common tools?? | ||
| Bartimus |
It can be done relatively easy, but just bolting in cams won't give you "instant" power. the S2 came with a stock sportster engine... No thunderstorm heads, no cams, and a big 'ol heavy flywheel! To get decent power out of an S2 motor, you either need to "thunderstorm" it, or massage it with a kit from NRHS or something. I've got a stage 2 NRHS 1250 kit in one of my S2's and it dyno's at 104 RWHP. If your gonna go into your motor, don't do it half azzed, go for the gusto! Bart | ||
| Pizzaboy |
yes im aware of the rest of the setbacks that im faced with. i would love to throw thunderstorm parts on it, but im not quite ready to rip out the engine and start pulling internals. i may be ready to do the 1250 kit with some other lower end goodies plus a ported head this fall after the riding season, but my bike is my daily driver from now till thanksgiving. i dont really want the down time at the moment. know whatta mean?? | ||
| Kilroy |
If you are familiar with your engine and have the service manual, you should be able to do this in an afternoon. Just make sure you have everything you need (gaskets, etc) before you start so you don't have to go parts hunting midway. The hardest thing I encountered was getting the pushrod tube bases back in without leaking oil. Had to re-do those 3 times before they sealed up. Also, make note of the way the lifters are facing and put them in the same way they came out, there is an oil hole that must face in a certain direction to face the oil galley, and the service manual will not mention which way that is. And Bartimus is right, look for some T-storm heads and do it all at once - it will be worth the extra $ | ||
| Ratbuell |
If you do it right (i.e. "cheat"), you don't have to remove the pushrod tube bases. Remove upper and middle rocker boxes. Remove rocker plates with rocker arms. Remove pushrods. Leave tubes in place. Remove cam cover (see manual - have to pull timing cup, etc). Rotate engine to line up marks on cams per the manual - CAREFULLY, don't let any fall out. Remove cams one at a time. Use a finger or a feeler gauge to keep the lifter from falling out the bottom when the cam comes out. Look at your wear pattern on the cam lobes and on the lifter roller - if they're slightly worn with no chips, lines (enough to catch a fingernail on) or major discoloration, reuse 'em. They're rollers. Flat-tappet lifters get replaced with cams; roller lifters are optional based on wear patterns. Install new cams per timing marks (read the instructions included with the cams - some have hash marks, some have dots, some have arrows, some have all of the above depending on application). You can do one at a time, or all at once, depends on how many fingers or feeler gauges you have to hold the lifters in place LOL. Install cam cover. Install pushrods, rockers, and rockerboxes. IF you want to thunderstorm, you add 13 bolts to the mix - four headbolts in each head, and two intake bolts per head, and the front mount-to-frame bolt (give or take a couple upper stabilizer link bolts). Remove heads, slide cylinders up off the pistons, install new pistons/pins/circlips, install machined cylinders with new base gaskets and headgaskets, install heads. I t-stormed my S2 last year with pistons, cams, and heads. Not as quick as my S1W with its lighter flywheels and lower final drive gearing, but plenty of grunt for a sport-tour commuter bike. I've been very happy with it. | ||
| Bad_karma |
Joe I just looked at the Buell catalog on line and saw that they offer an upgraded thunderbolt head for $299 assembled with over sized valves. Joe | ||
| Pizzaboy |
THAT is a good deal for heads! | ||
| Phat_j |
exactly what do you mean by thunderbolt head???? thunderstorm head? | ||
| Pizzaboy |
if he means thunderstorm head... its a good deal tunderbolt head... meh | ||
| Mikej |
Do the S2's require reaming the cam bearing/bushing cups in the cam cover? Or was that just some years of the M2's that had "sizing kits" for the cams? Or should I just go back to not worrying about it until I need to? | ||
| Ratbuell |
When I put the stuff in my S2, I bolted it in and went. Journal size was correct. | ||
| Classicbuells |
Thunderstorm spec is out of date now. Better to use >04 Sportster heads, they are better heads out of the box and as a bonus, you get to keep the flat top pistons you already have installed. They are already black with highlighted fins too. You'll need a custom front head engine mount though, as the drilling is 1/4" different (ask Al @ American Sport Bike for one). HTH. (I have fitted these heads to 96, 97 S1's and 97, 98 M2's with good results.) | ||
| Puddlepirate |
If you do decide to go the thunderstorm route, you can get the heads and oversize pistons for $635 on Ebay buy it now. That generally would be cheaper than the XB/'04+XL heads would be. If you just throw the cams in the stock engine, you won't see much of a gain. Raise the compression by doing the XB or thunderstorm pistons with the respective heads and then the cams will wake up. | ||
| Pizzaboy |
gotcha. i think i may have found satisfaction in performance for this riding season, so i might hold off on cams until i do the rest of the planned engine work. |
