Dreaded Cam Chain Guide

Gary just replied and said there will not be anymore available through him. I agree Jim, it would be best for someone with the same first name to carry the torch forward…😀

If not for the border I’d pursue this but since the majority of sales would be in the US, it wouldn’t make sense.
 
After breaking one while hand filing, I bought the special tool, lol .....


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Yes, at around $40, the tool is a little spendy, but you've got 8 rings to do (2 regular and 2 oil rails per cylinder), so that works out to only about $5 per ring. Do another set some day and you're down to $2.50 per ring. Do enough of them and the cost per ring will get down to practically nothing. I recommend trying to get the .25 1st over-size. Even they will overlap at the ends when 1st fitted and require quite a bit of filing.
I have one of these tools somewhere. Will need it for sizing the rings on the beetle. Glad you posted this 5T - will inspire me to look for it tonight. Bet I’ve had it for 20+ years and never used it yet.
 
Gary just replied and said there will not be anymore available through him. I agree Jim, it would be best for someone with the same first name to carry the torch forward…😀

If not for the border I’d pursue this but since the majority of sales would be in the US, it wouldn’t make sense.
I'm going to need at least two of them. If that means shopping over the border, so be it. I hope Heiden Tuning isn't selling the same garbage as Revival Parts (MikesXS).
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I'm going to need at least two of them. If that means shopping over the border, so be it. I hope Heiden Tuning isn't selling the same garbage as Revival Parts (MikesXS).
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IDK Marty, but Heiden shares a lot of parts with Revival - I was puzzled by that relationship as Heiden has some quality proprietary stuff, yet resells some of Mike's stuff too.
 
It all goes back to Mike LeGrande and his forging relations with Taiwanese and Chinese suppliers.
He had always wholesaled as well as running Mikes XS. When he sold Mikes he continued with the wholesale end of the business. Most if not all of the various XS retailers round the world have sourced at least some of their parts through him. No need to reinvent the wheel if a good source is already in production.
Hoos might have been an exception.
 
Yep and Mike, before Mike's, worked at K&L Supply - that is still a well regarded supplier of parts - I'd assume that's where a lot of his supplier contacts and knowledge came from.
 
Seems like there’s quite a few of us who would like this part. If someone orders and receives a part with proper construction, please share the source. I can get one from XS650Direct to see how it “measures up” unless someone else has done that recently.

Just tried placing an order with XS650Direct but their site is down. Will keep trying and will post pics when received.
 
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So, on my evening walk tonight, I further contemplated these crappy style chain guides in my head.

There are two other options possibly:

1). Fill and drill the known "off drilled" ones from Mikes. A process we used to do on aircraft parts that were universal fit and sometimes needed to fit a different year aircraft. Fill the holes in by welding them shut, redrilling them square like they should've been in the first place, then tapping the threads back in the squared holes. Of course, this would only work if the metal wasn't too crappy to be tig-welded in the first place (read: not pot metal)?

2). Perhaps using a newer, stronger material that wasn't available back in the day...namely "Delrin". I don't know the specifics of the material, density & strength wise but I do know its huge in the hotrod and car racing scene as a go to, very strong material now days. Perhaps a guide could be made entirely from this material without any bonding process necessary at all? Not sure if it would hold threads without an insert or not...just spit balling here? :shrug:
 
So, on my evening walk tonight, I further contemplated these crappy style chain guides in my head.

There are two other options possibly:

1). Fill and drill the known "off drilled" ones from Mikes. A process we used to do on aircraft parts that were universal fit and sometimes needed to fit a different year aircraft. Fill the holes in by welding them shut, redrilling them square like they should've been in the first place, then tapping the threads back in the squared holes. Of course, this would only work if the metal wasn't too crappy to be tig-welded in the first place (read: not pot metal)?

2). Perhaps using a newer, stronger material that wasn't available back in the day...namely "Delrin". I don't know the specifics of the material, density & strength wise but I do know its huge in the hotrod and car racing scene as a go to, very strong material now days. Perhaps a guide could be made entirely from this material without any bonding process necessary at all? Not sure if it would hold threads without an insert or not...just spit balling here? :shrug:
Great ideas. I’d be afraid welding would destroy the plastic friction surface. A solid “plastic” piece sounds interesting.
 
So, on my evening walk tonight, I further contemplated these crappy style chain guides in my head.

There are two other options possibly:

1). Fill and drill the known "off drilled" ones from Mikes. A process we used to do on aircraft parts that were universal fit and sometimes needed to fit a different year aircraft. Fill the holes in by welding them shut, redrilling them square like they should've been in the first place, then tapping the threads back in the squared holes. Of course, this would only work if the metal wasn't too crappy to be tig-welded in the first place (read: not pot metal)?

2). Perhaps using a newer, stronger material that wasn't available back in the day...namely "Delrin". I don't know the specifics of the material, density & strength wise but I do know its huge in the hotrod and car racing scene as a go to, very strong material now days. Perhaps a guide could be made entirely from this material without any bonding process necessary at all? Not sure if it would hold threads without an insert or not...just spit balling here? :shrug:
The third option is to make my frankenguide. SR500 guides are still available relatively cheap... and it's a pretty easy mod to do. I've got 3 more engines to build. I'll do that before I put Mikes misaligned guide in one.
Fwiw, the one in my SG is going into it's 4th season and maybe 5k miles now. I think if it was gonna fail it'd done so by now. Hell, if I thought it was gonna fail, I'd never used it in the first place. I had a NOS Yamaha one in hand at the time...
 
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Great ideas. I’d be afraid welding would destroy the plastic friction surface. A solid “plastic” piece sounds interesting.

I think TIG heat on aluminum can be very localized to control blowouts when welding thin aluminum items, etc...I bet it could be done without damaging the bond.
 
The third option is to make my frankenguide. SR500 guides are still available relatively cheap... and it's a pretty easy mod to do. I've got 3 more engines to build. I'll do that before I put Mikes misaligned guide in one.
Fwiw, the one in my SG is going into it's third season and maybe 5k miles now. I think if it was gonna fail it'd done so by now. Hell, if I thought it was gonna fail, I'd never used it in the first place. I had a NOS Yamaha one in hand at the time...
That was indeed a very ingenious mod you did...I was reading that thread earlier today, great stuff. 👍
 
Yes, I've never seen or heard of one of the SR/XT/TT500 guides failing. Maybe because the rubber is bonded to steel instead of aluminum? That's why I thought it would make a good guide for our 650s if it could be adapted (and it can).
 
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