Thanks for the input Chammyman. Did you raise the engine or does it come out in-situ?

 

never touched the engine apart from the head, want pictures? of course you do.





Notice anything? Yes that is indeed a badly drilled out header stud that someone tried to repair with epoxy - badly







This is why mine was running on 3 cylinders (thats how I got it cheap)



My epoxy repair, no material to fit a thread insert, drilled it and fitted a long stud, torqued up fine

 

Thanks for the reply, I'll leave the engine alone and just take the head off then.

 

OK I finally got some spanner time today and the cylinder head came off without a hitch. Just needed to remove the coolant pipe that runs across the front of the engine to get enough clearance.

Will be taking it to be inspected this evening so I'm hoping for good news.

I also won this on e-bay for a steal of a price, so I have a back-up plan but hope I wont need it.

eBay - The UK's Online Marketplace

I'll keep you guys updated.

 

Hey:

Good deal on the complete motor I am sure that will come in handy in the future.

Dub

 

Not just the motor CBR1988, there's carbs and loads of other goodies as well

Anyway went to see this bloke Brian this evening, he's a really nice guy, early sixties, been an engineer all his life, has his own Aladdin's cave workshop in the back and a half dozen classic motorbikes. He looked at my cylinder head and basically said no problem. I really liked this guy and was happy to leave the head with an enthusiast, if he wanted to he could probably build his own bike from scratch with all the equipment he's got.

So I'll be picking it up after my next trip and I will be ready to reassemble, can't wait to start pestering you guys again!

 

Oh Steve. I' so sorry I've been away from here for too long. I could have talked you through this job without taking the head off at all or dropping the engine. There's a good method to drill out broken studs and get back to the existing thread (with patience) which I've come up with.
Guess I'd better keep schtum and listen to the outcome. Hope all works out. Well done for taking the plunge.

Chammyman, can you elaborate on your story please? I can see that you've got what looks like a broken rocker spring there but that wouldn't necessarily make her run on three.

 

No worries Henry, 'when the cat's away the mice will play'

It seems to be working itself out, you can talk me through bolting it all back together instead

 

I can feel a trip to Brighton coming on. I can even feel the lip of the beer can, cold, inviting, rubbing at my bottom lip, while you swear glibly at your piston rings stubbornly refusing to go back into their snug little homes. Ah well, I'll just crack another one open and try to keep things light. On the other hand I could bring a bottle of JD and we could both swear in unison.
Let me know when you're ready Steve. I'll make the effort.

And yeah Steve-o, cheap spares is good. Very good. G'day mate!

Now where's that Charmy? I want to know his story.