As you might have guessed, trying to remove the snapped exhaust stud has not gone well and after another attempt this morning I decided that removing the cylinder head was the best way to proceed.

Now a question or two. In the Haynes manual it says to raise the engine by removing all the engine mounts except for the rear mount and jacking the engine up. Is this really necessary? It looks like there is enough space to get it out.

Secondly, I'll be taking the head to have the stud drilled out. How far do I need to dismantle it and do you have any advice on this 'cos I've never done it before. Do I need to protect the head, other than not drop it on the floor

Thirdly it says to separate the head from the block by tapping it with a soft faced hammer. How hard is a tap? I don't want to crack anything, and will a normal hammer and a block of wood be OK?

Advice from anyone with experience of this type of thing will be greatly appreciated.

 

Hey:

hawkwind, I normally remove the engine from the frame, as it speeds things up for me and I don't like having to work around angles and tight quarters for a few extra bolts. Just remember you do not have to disconnect the clutch line, just remove the whole sprocket cover and remove the front sprocket or just the chain if you have a smaller front sprocket on it.
I put a jack under the engine with a wide piece of wood on top of it and lower the engine down after removing and marking each bolt as to where it came from location and direction and try to keep all the spacers/washers with it. IE., L upper eng bolt frnt. on a piece of masking tape and put in a seperate ziplock bag and number them. A gentle tap with block of wood/hammer all around will loosen it and may not be needed. I have had them come apart with just hand pressure before after removing the bolts and cams. I normally wrap the cams in bubble wrap so they will not get nicked up and store in a cardboard tube. I also put a long piece of wire wraped in the cam chain and attached to big bolt so it won't fall in the motor and I have to spend hours trying to fish it out. The coolant has to be drained and the coolant elbows on the head have to be removed and I leave them attached to the hoses. I try to leave things together as much as I can and keep complete assemblies together when I can, to aid in reassembly. Just take your time, label and mark what you can and all should be ok. If you have access to a cherry picker or engine hoist you can raise the bike up by the frame as much as needed to clear the engine and do the same to lower it back on the engine when you reinstall it, Good Luck.


Dub

 

Never know too Steve , maybe if ya could get it (the whole motor) in a van and over to the place thats getting the stud out ...........ya might not have to pull the head at all !

 

I second that, as it would save you the most time and the least amount of money (no head gaskets).

Dub

 

Well guys I'm already at the stage where I can remove the head. Maybe I jumped the gun a little, but the place nearest to me that I spoke to said they would definitely need the head removed from the bike and the way he said it, it sounded to me like it was the only way to do it.

Showing my inexperience I guess, I never thought of ringing around to see if someone else would do it with the engine complete. Bank holiday weekend, work in the morning and have to drive 300 miles to pick up the kids from their grandmothers on my next days off. So nothings gonna' happen too soon anyhow

Thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated.

 

Hey:

Did you find anyone that will do it with the motor all together, or was it too late and you already had it apart to be done with the head off ?


Dub

 

looks like he said he was tied up with family as it's a short week over there since they
had their long week-end last week-end

 

Cheers for the replies guys, been away and very busy!!

Just a flying visit at home, 'cos I'm off to LA first thing in the morning, can't seem to get any tinkering time for the bike.

I did ring up an engineering company, the guy I spoke to was very helpful and gave me the number of a classic bike enthusiast who he knows does good work. Gave that guy a ring but he's on holiday until tomorrow and as I have to leave the house by 06:00am I wont be able to speak to him until Thursday Still I'd rather give the job to someone who loves the work and will take an interest than give it to just anyone.

I'm at the stage where the head is ready to come off anyway, so I'll just drop the engine out of her and whip it off

I'll keep you guys updated as soon as there is any news/progress.

At least I stripped and cleaned all the carbs while they've been off the bike and I cleaned up the cam cover as well, I'll give the rest of the engine a clean as well once I get it out.

I've taken loads of pictures, but I dare say I'll need a bit of help putting it all back together, so I'll be pestering you once the head has been sorted out

Cheers Guy's and thanks for the moral support

 

I took the head off of mine with the engine in the bike, really easy job I thought, wish all head removals were that easy. Mine is the earlier 87 engine though.