585 Cam Install on '09 K9

Bowhunter

Bowhunter

Well-Known Member
Being a visual learner myself as most men are, I thought I would post up the install of the S&S .585 cam in my K9.
Begin by raising the rear wheel off the ground so that you can rotate the wheel later on, remove the seat, the plugs, side covers, air filter and the exhaust.

Remove the upper pushrod covers by inserting a flat blade screwdriver into the slot while at the same time pulling down on the spring loaded collar.

Lift the cover by pulling it out toward you and then down.

I made up 4 paper-clip retainers to hold up the pushrod tubes.

Pull up on the lower pushrod tube and it will collapse upon itself, now slip the open end of the paper clip on the edge of the tube to hold it up out of your way.

I used a Carbide tipped pen to mark the pushrods so that I could count the rotations later during the valve adjustment.

Now while holding the lower most nut, loosen the lock nut by turning it counter-clockwise and collapse the pushrod. Repeat on the other 3 rods.

Now a little fabrication of a "funnel" using aluminum foil and painters tape will save you a big mess later. I cut open a old jug for a oil trap to funnel into.

Remove all the bolts in the cam-cover and insert 2 larger bolts in the threaded holes and break the seal to remove the cover.

Rotate the rear tire to align the cam alignment dots.

Remove the stock cam and inspect the bearing in the rear of the case. Make sure that it is a bearing with multiple needle bearings(Torrington Bearing). If not, it must be replaced. If showing wear it must be replaced.

I measured my original cam and the new cam and they were the same length so I used the original shim on the new cam.

Insert the cam into the case making sure to align the timing marks(one mark is to the left and the other is on the groove with the lower timing mark.

Replace the cam cover with a new gasket and torque the bolts to 120 inch pounds.

Begin the pushrod adjustment as laid out in other posts, while waiting for the first lifter to bleed down, remove the exhaust gaskets.

Insert new gaskets into the gasket pockets.

After adjusting all 4 pushrods, reinstall the exhaust, side covers, plugs, air filter and its cover, and the seat.

Now get out on the road and enjoy the fruit of your labor.
 
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Bowhunter

Bowhunter

Well-Known Member
Increase both torque and horsepower since the EPA forced the factory to de-tune the motor for emissions. This is the easy cam install, it gets more involved as you go bigger and need to raise the compression ratio to get the most out of the bigger cams.
 
Bowhunter

Bowhunter

Well-Known Member
Like Marv said, I know this bike would be a beast with the .600 done properly, but for now I am going with a easy cam switch that does not require extensive engine work.
 
postman

postman

Active Member
Bowhunter did mine last weekend , he did a awsome job on mine, I was the guinea pig before his upgrade but he is a great friend and mec.
 
narow37

narow37

Angry Southern White Man
question? Do you need to slather assembly lube on the cam when you install it? do you need to drain the oil before starting? can the gasket be had at a local harley shop or is it specific to S&S and where do you get the shims if needed? these are the only things that I wonder about now and thanks Bowhunter for the how-to. sticky please.
 
nine lives

nine lives

Active Member
Bowhunter, not to rain on your parade but, when I do a cam, I usually remove the tappet blocks to have access to the cam from the hole In block where the tappet blocks mount. Why? Because I check for cam end play by installing the cam, mounting nose cone and new gasket. I then use a feller gauge to check end play. I add or remove shims for proper end play. I understand that you measured the cams length so you would assume that the shims would be the same. But if the cam you removed was not shimmed properly to begin with or the bearings seated, or ware etc., you would have improper cam end play.

I have had cams walk which intern causes the cam lobes to ware improperly from the load not being centered on the cam lobes from the tappet rollers. There is more work involved, but I feel doing it this way is the best way to preform this swap.
 
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Bowhunter

Bowhunter

Well-Known Member
Shane(narow37)- it is not necessary to drain the engine oil before this project, if your oil is ready to be replaced it would be smart to drain all the oil before starting. I serviced the bike at the end of last year with Full Synthetic Oil and I have only put about 300 miles on it this year with the bad weather so I did not drain the oil.
I did soak the new camshaft in fresh synthetic oil prior to installation.
Harley did have the gasket locally, my bike is barely one year old and I did not change all the O-rings or the lifter block gaskets. When I did Postman's bike, I did change all the O-rings while I was in there. I ordered the cam change kit from Cycle City in Kingsport for his bike to have all the necessary seals($15).
Shims are available at Harley if needed.
As Nine Lives said, the lifter blocks should be removed if you have replaced the bearing or cam cover bushing to check for endplay. My engine has had full synthetic oil since the first oil change and the cam and bearing looked new. I measured the two cams and the dimension was exactly the same so I reused the original shim and bearing. Since S&S built this engine and warrants it for 2 years, I did not worry about the cam bearing being improperly installed at the factory. By all means, pull the lifter blocks and check endplay if you replace the bearing or bushing as NineLives said.
 
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