Norton Commando camshaft nut removal

Removing a stubborn camshaft nut on my 1969 Norton Commando

[@billcobb9408]

Wow. Next step.

[@motohomeless9168]

Yeah…it took a lot

[@motorp742]

Wow that was a bummer to see. Definitely use a torque wrench going back on and don't over torque, like the last guy 😮

[@motohomeless9168]

For sure! I think the hulk put the last one on

[@motorp742]

@@motohomeless9168 or an unskilled mechanic 🤣

[@warmlandmobilebrakes]

Should send this video to loctite, daamn bro your shit be craaaazy

[@motohomeless9168]

@@warmlandmobilebrakes hahaha. I don’t know how it was stuck so bad

[@chrisatc627]

Nut spitter would have worked, and also on a drill bit only the tip is sharp, using the fluted part that removes the chips when drilling will get you no where

[@motohomeless9168]

I’ve never even heard of a nut splitter. I’ll have to look those up!

[@billroe7832]

2+bit of heat could work wonders

[@motohomeless9168]

I tried heat. Did not work.

[@billcobb9408]

If you had an impact gun you could maybe break it loose.

[@motohomeless9168]

I tried that with an impact that had 1500 ft lbs of torque.

[@brucebear1]

billcobb9408 - It's a difficult area to work on. The best way to hold the camshaft for removing the nut is to leave the timing chain on and block the timing reduction gears at the crankshaft but there's an issue -- the shaft that holds the larger reduction gear is set into a simple drilling in the crankcase and more energy (either from over-torqueing with a spanner or the pounding of an impact) than specified will break that shaft out of the crankcases and that situation is usually not repairable from a practical standpoint. Another way to go (as shown here) is to remove the timing chain (early Commandos have twin chains, one going to the cam in front and one parallel to the first going to the ignition points (also shown here) -- later Commandos have the points on the end of the camshaft so a single chain provides drive and timing for the cam and ignition. This is what's shown here. The problem with this is that there is no way to securely lock the camshaft into position to provide enough torque onto the nut to break it loose if it was put on too tightly. Something way back in my memory tells me -- so don't rely on it -- that there is a factor that's not is not a real issue but something to keep in mind is (I think) the nut is a left-hand thread so it turns backwards; this isn't a real problem you just turn a spanner the other way than usual or reverse an impact gun but the problem of not being able to hold the cam from turning is still there. A small subsidiary issue is that there is a small brass camshaft bushing that's right behind that sprocket and if you're using a "smoke wrench" to heat the nut up, you run a chance of melting the bushing and at that point, you have probably trashed the crankcases in another way. So what you're seeing in this video is making the best possible outcome of a bad situation and often the "best practical" solution isn't enough to get that nut loose if it's too tight. And, as shown in the video, sometime the only practical way to handle this is to trash the nut, sprocket, and cam if you're going to avoid damaging the cases. (EDIT -- OK, it's official that this old man has CRS. I went and reviewed the workshop manual -- which I should have done in the first place since I wrote it -- and it says clearly that the cam nut is normal right-hand thread; it's the crankshaft timing nut with drive for the intermediate timing gears and oil pump drive that's the left-hand thread. Duhh for me, but it makes no practical difference to the issue of the cam being very difficult-to-impossible to retain strongly enough to really crank on the nut. Apologies.)

[@motohomeless9168]

@@brucebear1 correct. The only reverse thread is the crank worm gear. I’ve been reading the Normal White manual as thoroughly as possible.