swing arm end cap

Does anyone know if it is possible to install the left hand swing arm end cap with the primary drive in place?

My swing arm rod broke, and the new one will take a few days to arrive. I would like to carry on with my primary, but it seems like a tight fit.

And is it normal that the oil nipple thread on the right side cap touches the spindle? The rod broke when i installed the nipple. Because of the leverage i did not even felt real resistance before the head of the rod snapped. I have read here that the new Andover Norton spindles are a little wider than originals. Possibly that is what's going on. I did not replace the spindle myself, but it could have been replaced at a recent restoration. Any solutions for this? I can grind the protruding piece of thread if that is what it takes.

Dimitri

I believe the stock rod is just a threaded wheel spoke. I don't think you'll be able to get the left side cap out without removing the inner primary case. Mine was really close and was even rubbing on the cap for a time. The rod can also break when using a pump squirt can to fill the cavity with oil. (Yes, this happened to me and it sucks.)

It looks like the oil nipple was ground down after installation in the cap so that the threads do not hit the swingarm pin.

Good luck with it.

Russ

Thanks Russ,

Only a few evenings of wrenching and the bike is ready again. And the weather is getting better next week. Hard...to...wait...! But in that case, i'll leave the primary off until the end caps are back on.

If the primary is off it will be a lot easier. I replaced mine on a 71 with the primary in place, it required the use of many 4 letter explicates and a lot of jiggling but it did go on.

Dennis