Or maybe "putting a square peg in a round hole"! That's what I've been doing in the shop for a while today. Now, everybody knows that timing marks on the camshaft and crankshaft gears are supposed to line up, right? But what happens when the valves don't open and close where we want them to do when the timing is "correct"? It's possible to make minor adjustments of the cam and/or crankshaft position with an offset Woodruff key, but there's another way. How about cutting a new slot for the key(s) to fit in a slightly different angular relationship to the gear teeth? That's what I'm getting ready to do. There's a machinist's tool known as a "broach" that is used with a hydraulic press to cut keyway slots in pulleys, sprockets, or gears so they can fit over a keyed shaft. In order to work properly, a broach must have a slotted guide that fits the hole in whatever part needs a new keyway. I've been making broaching guides that will allow me to cut an extra slot or two in a stovebolt timing gear so I can tinker with the cam timing on the Franken-Bolt when I start doing exotic things with the roller lifters and rocker arms I'm planning to use. I'll relieve the press fit between the cam and the gear so it's a snug slip fit, and install a center bolt to keep the gear in place, instead of pressing the gear on and off the cam every time I want to make a timing change.
Jerry
