Removing the Exhaust Header

Hey all,

At one point or another many of you must have been in my place where your exhaust header is in pretty rough shape and you want to bring it back to its full splender. However, i look at the bolts holding them on and i dont know how happy they would be with me trying to torque them out of their current location, i am afraid of just breaking off the heads and having the rest of the bolts stuck in my engine block. This would put a serious damper on the riding season if you know what i mean, any suggestions from the crowd?

 

Soak them repeatedly in PBBlaster or LiquidWrench or other rust penetrating oils. Then all you can do is try and hope.

 

Soak as suggested, then apply a bit of heat like a propane torch.

 

I've had success by running the bike to heat up the exhaust. They came right off after the pipes warmed up.

I got that advice from my grandfather. He said that's what they had to do to get the exhaust off a Ford Model A. My GF is 96 years-old and has worked on everything from pre-WWII Harleys to Winnebago motorhomes. His advice is always good.

 

I had one break on me, and luckily it was accesable enough to get at with some tools and coax it out. I also had one strip out too, and it also was accesable enough to run a tap in and throw a bolt in. Good luck.

 

I wouldn't give a second thought about putting a Wafer Cut-off Wheel into a Dremel Tool and cutting those Hex Nuts almost right through.

You make the cut on a Bias ... (a slant) cutting nearly completely through the nut and as close as possible to the stud as you can.

Phase 2
Old Heavy Duty CRAFTSMAN Screwdriver and Hammer.
Split them.
Let them fall on to the floor.

Collect ALL eight of the Nuts.

Notice how they are all in the palm of you hand and the studs are not disturbed.

Time saved: HOURS
Anxiety: NONE
Out riding with the new pipes on and new nuts fastened to studs treated with high-temp NeverSeize:
Priceless.

As the Skipper said to Gadanski when he started to bitch about Maverick.

"I know what's what's on you mind ... Get-on-it!"

 

All good ideas. I bought a nut splitter (about $10 on ebay) as backup insurance, but it turned out that once the bike was warm, the nuts came off fairly easily.
Also, remember to apply some Never-Seize on those studs before re-assembling.

 

All of the advice above is good...The heat is probably the best way to go first off. I like heat. Heat is my friend. See my signature

If, by some chance that God doesn't see it your way and the studs do break, you can go to you local auto parts store and pick up an E-Z Out. They work great, although I can't give you an expense category since I haven't bought any in years.

As always, Good luck and don't kick the bike over if they do break (I have NEVER done that!)

BTW, Dispatcher, I like your bike. That is what I had til about 6 hours ago...the project has begun!

 

OLD SCHOOL PROCEDURE
Fail Safe

Cut them off!

There are NO ... NONE ... ZERO ... Cylinder Head Fasteners made of Hardened Quality ... Intake and Exhaust side.

Cut them off and the JOB is done!

Break one off and you start drilling.
Run the drill-out and the hole's off-set.
Try to Easy-Out an off-set hole and you break-off an Easy-Out.
Try to drill a broken-off Easy-out ... made of harder steel than most inexpensive twist drills ... and you'll be needing a little help from your old friend ...

Eathan Hunt

Here's "The Dice" My good man.
You are ahead right now.
Your Summer's on-the-line ... and the Odds are 8 -to- 1 against you!

 

You have good, solid, valid points Rick. You are indeed a thinking man. I haven't had problems with easy outs but they would be a bear if you did break one off. You would be in quite a pickle.

Be careful with the nut splitter as not to damage the threads. If you do a good tap and die set would be pricey(If you don't already have one) but a lot easier than drilling out.

Let us know how it turns out.

 

I don't use a nut splitter.

I cut through them, on an angle, with a Dremel Tool and Wafer thin cut-off wheels.

Once I have a deep incision ... Then, I use a splitter or just "Spread them" with a chisel or a big screwdriver.

Once they are off ... it there is any "Cut through" touching the Stud ... since it's on an angle ... no harm is done and a Thread Chaser or a Die will bring-back the threads with no harm done.

Before nutting-up the new exhaust ... coating the threads with some Permatex AntiSeize will prevent the anxiety from ever reoccurring.

 

All the above for me. Financial instability and lack of time has kept mine off the road for almost 3 years now. Previous owner installed a cheap exhaust system on mine and I'd have to pull the header off twice a season to sand and paint it. Over the 7 years I've had the bike, it took it's toll on the studs.

What do I do to get the broken backout off?

I keep trying to tell people, backouts are normally NOT used for getting seized hardware out. Only damaged hardware.

Also one person that worked on mine ended up drilling one broken stud out but the hole is offset.

Is a replacement head in the works for me or is there a way to repair this? Engine is currently out of the frame.

 

The broken-off portion is soft steel.

You can drill it out.
But you have to do it in small increments and settle for small gains on it rather than trying to hit it out of the park.

Grind the end and Center Punch it.
If the Center Punch is off ... grind it and repunch it.

Drill a Pilot hole using good, sharp drills.
If you attempt this with anything less than new or freshly sharpened drills ... you're licked before you begin.

Increase the ID a little at a time.
Once you get near having the drills OD match the Studs OD ...
Heat and Easy-out.
-or-
Tap
-or-
Drill it to the next oversize and Heli-coil.

As always:
Cunsult with Professionals.
Don't try it at home without the proper tools and equipment.

 

Thanks for the reply.

What about the one that has the EZ out broken off in it?

 

Unless you have a Machine Shop do it ...

You NEED:

A Dremel Tool with the Extension Wand.
A Diamond Tipped Cutter.
Good light
A comfortable position.
Headphones
Music
Patience
Time

 

Thanks for the help Rick. I want to get this thing back on the road before the end of the riding season here. The sooner the better. I'm getting my g/f's son (he's 8 and loves "working on stuff" like this) started on sanding the frame so i could paint it something other than the usual black you see all the time.

 

Don't try to "Muscle" the job getting the broken Easy-Out out of there.
The tool will "Jump" and do a number on Aluminum in a Heartbeat.

Do a little at a time. Drag-out the shavings with a magnet. As long as the shavings are Chia-Heading the magnet ... you're OK. Go after the Easy-Out and take-out the surrounding soft steel.

Take out all the steel you can until the Easy-Out fragment is freed and comes out with the magnet.

Continue to "Balance" the Job by making a nice diameter for a larger Easy-Out ... or,

Until you can sever the Inside Diameter of the steel you have been removing and allow the Outside Diameter of the remaining steel to be pried off the Inside Diameter of the Threads.

Once you arrive at the point where you are able to "Scribe" a cut through the remaining thin portion of stud left covering the threads ... Put some Vegetable Oil or Soldering Flux in there and HEAT it.

That ought to do it!