I've just spent a couple of hours trying to remove a brake cam. I cut the heads off the rivets and tried to drive them out. No go. I turned it red and tried again. Still no go. Is there some way to get the lever off the cam, or do I have to just cut it off and order new parts?
I believe I had to cut mine off. I had new brake cams anyway, so it wasn't a big deal to me.
Drill the rivet almost out(slightly smaller than the outside diameter) but not thru, then get a punch and drive it out, maybe with the help of a hot wrench.
I drilled mine out, then drilled them out a week later, as I had put the cams in bass-ackwards.
There is no need to drive out the rivets if you have a BF C clamp with a split anvil. Put the C Clamp on so you can press on the end with the arm on the end of the cam. (Or put a socket over the cam) Put a ball from a ball bearing on the end of the shaft. Tighten the C Clamp. Hot wrench it. The shaft will pop the rivets when you push it out. Takes a big heavy duty C Clamp but it works. Done a bunch of them that way.
Can someone show a closeup pic of the cam in the correct position to help keep us newbies from installing it backwards? Thanks!
Cut the cam off, then chuck the shaft in a lathe and drill out the shaft using a smaller drill than the shaft. The remaining shaft and rivets can then be removed easily.
Ted's method did it, with no harm to the cam or the lever.
Mark, here you go.
Hand lever forward. Cam lever back, cam horizontal.
Hand lever back. Cam lever forward, cam spreading brake shoe.
Thanks for the pics! For some reason I got it in my head that the shape of the front of the cam was different than the back, but I can see that it's really tied to getting the position of the actuating lever correct.
"I got it in my head that the shape of the front of the cam was different than the back"
It is if you have a 26-27 setup. Cams are the same left or right except where the holes are drilled for the lever which makes them left or right. When the cam is installed with the lobe in the horizontal position the lever should slant back at the top to the rear.
http://www.modeltford.com/item/2557.aspx
http://www.modeltford.com/item/2558B.aspx