Cam install question

After replacing both head gaskets, I have a question about re-installing the cams. Take a look at the 2 pics. The Before is before I took off the cam and after is when I put it back on. For whatever reason I can’t get the index marks to line up “exactly.” Am I just being anal?

 

Is this with the cam saddles tightened down? Because the driving gear is split/spring-loaded to take up slack, and until the two gears are firmly meshed, the split gear will try to slightly rotate the cam out of alignment.

 

Both before and after pics are with everything tightened down.

 

Well it is only possible to be misaligned by one or more whole teeth. Using my eyecrometer the gear looks to have about 46 teeth, so one tooth off is just under 8 degrees and that looks like this; your pic looks close to that. Have you tried moving the camshaft by one tooth over, and also checking the crank position?

 

When I move the tooth by one tooth in the opposite direction the cam mark is off by that much in the other direction. I took a quick look at the and the T1 timing mark and when I align the cam index marks, the second timing mark aligns with the index mark.. See pic. I guess I'll keep trying.

 

The heads hold gear tower(s)? Or are they fastened onto the crankcase/cylinder block? Any chance that tower is a tooth off on the crankshaft? Gotta be something that changed due to replacing gskts...

 

PS..different thickness of head gskts perhaps?

 

Well, I took a look again at the cams, 3 were off like image1 in the first post. The front head exhaust cam was dead on. For what ever reason, when you align the index marks and the cam holder before you tighten the bolts, the index mark becomes a few degrees (counter clockwise) off when you tighten the bolts.

Just have the index mark a few degrees clockwise of the mark on the cam holder and when the bolts are torqued down, everything lines up. I had to redo 3 cams. The cam holders are a tight fit on my bike, don’t know if that’s the norm.

Thanks everyone.