1949 ES2 cam endfloat

Hi John

Franks book says there should be a maximum of 0.005 end float. As you have 4 times that I would deal with it now. If you have the mag chain off then its pretty straight forward to get at it. Not sure about a source of shims as I didn't have to re-do it on my ES2.

Regards

Andy

Easily fixed bypressing the bronze bush inwards till the required clearance is achieved!....OR, have a new bush turned up with a thicker head. EG. .015" over the thickness you have now.

Regards, Paul

E.M.Franks book is a great source of information. I found when I was doing both my Nortons that he went into far more detail than the workshop manual. Well worth having a copy, they crop up from time to time on ebay. Theres one here at the moment

Regards

Andy

Previously john_francis wrote:

Hi there, hope this hasn't been covered before. Found 0.5mm/ 0.020" enfloat on the inlet cam when checking timing chain (can't tell what the figure for exhaust is). I have two questions...1) Is this worth dealing with yet ? I know the manual says "just discernible" for endfloat but I'd like the benefit of real-world experience and 2) Where can I get the appropriate shims?

Any help or advice appreciated. Regards, John.

Hi John,

The 20 thou end float on your inlet cam is not a big issue as far as mechanical wear or damage is concerned. The main benefit if you want to fit a shim is to reduce the oil sepage past the bush into the mag chain chamber which has always been excessive and is left to drip out of the breather/overspill pipe and make a mess. On later engines the cam spindle had a stopped return scroll to negate this but I don't know if this made much difference. The shim needs to be fitted between the cam wheel and the outer cover bush, so you will need to remove the main timming cover if you think it's worth the effort. You will probably get shims from an engineering supplies company or a bearing supplier and as they are 5/8ths of an inch, 16mm ones will fit.

Kind regards, Richard.