Hydraulic Tappet Kit. For 1966–1984 “Big Twin®” & Shovelhead®” Engines. For
more information, see www.cranecams.com. These instructions are designed to ...
Installation Instructions
Hydraulic Tappet Kit
For 1966–1984 “Big Twin®” & Shovelhead®” Engines
For more information, see www.cranecams.com These instructions are designed to assist in with counterbored tappet block bolt holes to the installation of Crane Cams hydraulic lifters aid in alignment. in 1966-84 Harley-Davidson® “Big Twin®” and “Shovelhead®” powered motorcycles. As with any 5. Remove the tappet guide block bolts and remove the tappet guide blocks and their mechanical work on your motorcycle, you must tappets as an assembly. Use care to make have the knowledge and experience to perform sure that the tappets do not drop out of the the job, or seek qualified assistance. We highly block and down into the case. Clean the recommend that you have the service manual for tappet blocks prior to step 7, making sure the your model for reference. oil passages are free of deposits and dirt.
REMOVING THE OLD TAPPETS
6. Shorten the pushrods by turning the lock nuts and the adjusters until no threads are left exposed. The short pushrods are for the intakes and the long ones are for the exhausts.
1. Disconnect the battery. Secure the motorcycle on a suitable stand with the rear wheel off the ground. Remove any components necessary for easy access to pushrod covers and gear case cover. Remove the spark plugs to make rotation of the engine by hand easier.
INSTALLING THE NEW TAPPETS 7. Slide the new tappet assemblies into the tappet block with the flat surfaces on the body of the tappet toward the center of the tappet block.
2. Remove the pushrod cover keepers and lift the covers to expose the pushrod adjusters. Rotate engine until both front cylinder tappets are in their lowest position. (Top of compression stroke.) Loosen the pushrod lock nuts and shorten the pushrods until they can be lifted out. You may find it helpful to put a wooden clothespin on the pushrod to hold up the cover during this step.
8. Assemble the tappet block gasket dry, and insert the entire assembly into the case. Make sure that the tappets do not slide out of the block and into the case. Also, make sure that the hole in the gasket matches the oil hole in the case and the tappet block. 9. To align the tappet blocks on 1977 and newer engines, we recommend the use of Crane tool 9-0021. Otherwise, align the blocks to within .0005” of the scribed lines as described in step 4. Hold the tappet guide assembly by and hand and insert the tappet guide bolts. Hand tighten the bolts. Note: Earlier engines use counterbored bolt holes for tappet block alignment.
3. Repeat step 2 on the rear cylinder. 4. To insure correct realignment to tappet blocks on late 1977 and later engines, we highly recommend the use of Crane Tappet Block Alignment Tool 9-0021. Otherwise, scribe a line on two sides of the case, next to the tappet block to aid in alignment during re-assembly. Earlier engines are equipped
CRANE CAMS, Daytona Beach, FL 32117 www.cranecams.com / Phone: 866-388-5120 / Fax: 608-627-0480 3/10
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10. With tappet block properly aligned, torque the tappet block bolts to 90-120 inch/ pounds. 11. Starting with the rear cylinder, reinstall the pushrod and pushrod cover assemblies. You may need to depress the pushrod cup in the tappet slightly by hand to perform this step. If the engine was rotated since step 3, rotate it until the rear tappets are all of the way down in the tappet block. 12. Rotate the engine until both tappets in the front tappet block are all the way down in the block and repeat step 11.
ADJUSTING THE TAPPETS 13. There are two popular methods for adjusting the tappets. Use method, “A” or “B”, which ever you find the easiest.
For example, when the exhaust tappet on the rear cylinder is at full lift (all of the way up in the tappet bore), you adjust the exhaust on the front cylinder, which will be all of the way down in its bore. After that, turn the engine until the exhaust tappet you have adjusted on the front cylinder is all of the way up and adjust the exhaust on the other cylinder. Simply repeat the process on the intake tappets once you have finished the exhaust.
The actual adjustment is done by extending the pushrod until the spring on the hydraulic unit is fully compressed. Then rotate the pushrod back 9 flats, (1-1/2 turns). Remember that the tappets must be clean and drained of oil to do the adjustment. Repeat this step for each tappet, as described above.
14. Reposition the pushrod covers, install the cover keepers, install the spark plugs and reassemble.
A. Tappet adjustment should be performed one cylinder at a time. Rotate the engine in its normal direction until the exhaust tappet starts to rise. You can now adjust the intake. Extend the intake pushrod until the tappet spring stacks and you feel the pushrod bind. Shorten the pushrod 9 flats (1-1/2 turns). Rotate the engine until the intake tappet is all the way up. Continue to rotate it in the same direction until the intake tappet is almost back down. You can now adjust the exhaust. Extend the exhaust pushrod until the tappet spring stacks and you feel the pushrod bind. Shorten the pushrod 9 flats (1-1/2 turns). Repeat for the other cylinder.
Note: On certain factory tappet guide blocks, the oil feed passage hole may be drilled too high up in the bore, allowing oil to escape above the roller tappet body. This situation becomes worse if the camshaft used has a small base circle, which high lift cams commonly have. This lowers the tappet further in the guide block when the valve is closed. If you have this problem, the pushrod cover will fill with pressurized oil. The problem can be detected by opening the pushrod cover while the engine is running and watching for pressurized oil escaping. To cure the problem, the guide blocks must be replaced with ones with the oil feed passage correctly drilled.
OR
B. You must rotate the engine by hand to insure that the tappet is on the heel (all of the way down in the tappet bore) of the camshaft during adjustment. The easiest way to determine this is to watch the same tappet on the other cylinder. 3/10
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