Ok... So i was removing my cams when I came upon a few MONUMENTAL problems!!!
1. I forgot to mark the chain so as to put the cam back where it should be (I'm a friggen idiot).
2. Suzuki must have made a critical error when making the bolts that hold in the camshaft retainer... instead of metal they used butter. I have one completely rounded off bolt for the "A" camshaft retainer (front left retainer).
3. Upon further efforts to remove the bolt the retainer has now cracked!!!! Even worse... there is no part number for the part and it appears to only be sold as a part of a new head (the entire thing)!!!
THE QUESTIONS:
Does anyone have this part that would want to sell it (just a shot)???
Any advice on putting these cams back in the right position if I ever get a new camshaft retainer???
Anyone know how to get ahold of a new camshaft retainer short of buying a new head???
Will someone shoot me please??? (PLEASE???)
The head's cam bearing and retainer surfaces have to be machined together to match. Thats why they are not sold separately. You might get lucky and find a used one. But it probably won't be a perfect match and you will have to worry about wrecking the cam.
The retainer bolts are soft bolts to keep ham fisted folks like you from doing what you did. The torque for those bolts is a measly 10 Nm, about to same as Al bolts, and its to keep the retainer from being over tightened and pinching the cam.
Don't feel bad, happens all the time. I have snapped 2 of them WITH a torque wrench!
Sorry you've had to learn this the hard way. This is why you should get the manual.
The only good news that I can give you is that you can realign the timing chain. The ignition rotor has timing marks on it that you can line up and then place and tighten the cams down as per the manual.
hey I have a extra set of them. you can try putting a different one on there and with lots of 800 grit sand paper you can machine them to fit.
I had a similar problem.
http://gstwins.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21929&highlight=cracked
Two of the caps were cracked when I bought the bike. I got a used head from a salvage yard and used the caps from the used head on mine. I checked the clearances with plastigage to make sure they were in spec. Definately match letter for letter though. Just checking with my finger the alignment of the used ones seemed good with my head. I plan on checking the cam bearing surfaces after several hundred miles to check for wear. I think it should be ok since the head and caps are aluminum and the cam is hardened steel. We shall see...