exhuast fitting muck-ups

Hiya all

These things always end up complicated...

My exhaust fitting is underway and it took most of this evening to get the stock system to unseize itself from the header mounts by use of a big club hammer! The new system is mocked up on there at the mo.

However...

One of the nuts off the front header point, despite being drowned in plusgas for the last month or so, siezed onto the thread and I ended out taking the thread out of the point in the engine...

<a href="http://s567.photobucket.com/albums/s...headerbolt.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i567.photobucket.com/albums/s...headerbolt.jpg" border="0" alt="Front header bolt"></a>

The thread on it and everything seems to be ok and the same goes for the thread in the engine (phew). I'm going to try to free the nut off tomorrow. Would the thread be ok to just screw back into the engine or would I need to use loctite or is there a special way of getting it back in?

Next thing to happen was this bolt fell off the bike while i was busy hammering away at the front header pipe...

<a href="http://s567.photobucket.com/albums/s...headerbolt.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i567.photobucket.com/albums/s...headerbolt.jpg" border="0" alt="Front header bolt"></a>

<a href="http://s567.photobucket.com/albums/s...headerbolt.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i567.photobucket.com/albums/s...headerbolt.jpg" border="0" alt="Front header bolt"></a>

Does anyone recognise this and know where it came from?

Also, the front header finally came off from using the hammer to twist the pipe in the hole until the sieze failed. Looking into the hole it was in a bit of a state...

<a href="http://s567.photobucket.com/albums/s...headerbolt.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i567.photobucket.com/albums/s...headerbolt.jpg" border="0" alt="Front header bolt"></a>

I was going to try to clean it out with paraffin but I'm worried if any damage would happen to the engine should any of it find its way in there. What'd be a good way to get that crap out of there and would it be ok to put a smear of copper grease in there to stop the bloody headers siezing in there again?

Also I was going to leave the gasket alone but would it still be ok after the siezing?

Sorry for all the questions this late at night but I would be real grateful if you could help...


Cheers all!

i may be corrected on this but
copper grease should be grand
the 2 circluar half spools are from the exhaust hanger where it meets the end can and also at the connection point where the collection box sits at the bottom of the frame/ engine edit: that bolt also looks like the bolt that connects the zuast to the frame by col/box

also youve just put the same photo up 8 times so im guessing at the unknow parts by looking though the album

[yorkie_chris]

Don't reuse the stock studs.

Get some stainless M8 bar and a couple of flanged stainless nuts. Chop to length and clean up. Put them in with gallons of copperslip, you want the last couple of turns into the motor to be compressing copperslip at the end of the hole. Only way the bl@@dy things seem to ever come out again!
DON'T use loads of torque to tighten the stud into the engine, it's totally unneccessary, so long as the stud is mostly all the way down the hole, the grip will be as strong as it will get. More torque of getting the stud into the bottom of the hole stresses the stud and the (pi$$ weak), threads more.

Have a careful and gentle scrape around and get some of the crap out, but GENTLY as you don't want the bits pinging off down exhaust port. Yes, you can wipe some copperslip around the new header.

Gasket will be fine.

[yorkie_chris]

If you mean "pic 1 of 4" in the album there, then it looks like a tophat out of the rubber dooffer at the tank mounting. Occasionally falls out when you're not looking. The other one will still be there because you're using the tank prop.

Ah cheers for your help dp & yc! Sorry about my appalling photoshop skills, I'd just registered midnight last night while knackered and half-asleep...

Re: the m8 bar - I should be able to get some from work but just to check, I wouldn't need that shoulder that's in the middle of the stud that came out?

The top hat bolt I found somewhere near the back of the bike and I didn't have the tank up so I'd guess that it'd be off one of the exhuast mountings...

hopefully the exhaust can go on properly this evening and then I can start on the carbs, fingers crossed...

Thanks again all

[yorkie_chris]

What size is top hat? There is similar in exhaust mount.

You don't really need the shoulder in the middle of the stud.

The width of the flat-top part of the bolt is about 32mm and the depth is 25mm.

Ok my plan now is to get a stainless bolt and cut the head off, then put the threaded part into the engine and flange nut on from there.

Having said that, would using just the right size of bolt + washer do the trick?

Cheers again

[yorkie_chris]

1 yes fine.

2, no. Don't use a normal bolt, it's a bad idea. Studs are far stronger than bolts of same size because they aren't moving when torque is applied to the fastener. Also when they sieze up, you can cut the nut off around a stud and have a FAR improved chance of getting it out. If you mess up the head of a bolt, you're boned.