<VV> Removing cam gear

[Clark Hartzel]

A friend of mine, who ran a Corvair repair business for a while, showed
me an easy way to remove the cam gear.  He had an old electric hot plate
hooked up in his garage.  Stand the cam on the gear on top of the burner
while at max heat and wait for a while until the cam gear gets smoking
hot.  Since the gear gets hot and expands more than the iron camshaft
does, it literally falls off when lifting the cam up.  Occasionally the
fit is extra tight so he would heat it, sit it on the floor, and put
both feet on the cam gear and yank the cam up out of the gear.  He wore
some old work boots to do this as the hot gear will melt the soles if
touched for too long.  He used the same procedure in reverse to install
the gear.  If you are worried about the gear coming loose, just drill
and tap for a set screw to hold it on.
The problem with removing a gear and reusing it comes from pressing it
off and pressing it on cold, which tears metal and reduces the press
fit.  By using heat you avoid that condition so it works fine!
Clark Hartzel