AHHHH! i'm so pissed right now at the guy who had my 929 before me.. and more pissed at me for not changing the plugs when i bought it ( could have possibly prevented this)... but one of the plugs worked it's way loose yesterday.. i had hoped that it just wasn't tightened right and loosened up over time. i've had it for 3,000 miles.. but when i went to put new plugs in today... the one where the plug "popped" out wouldn't tighten.. at all... so i started taking stuff off.. valve cover, cam caps.. for more access.. and to see if i could see in there.. i couldn't.. and it won't tighten.. so i have to assume the threads on the head in that particular hole are fubar because the other 3 plugs went in fine.
my friend recommended a heli coil.. but i don't think that will hold up.. not too mention the lack of room for a drill to properly heli coil.. i think i'm better off removing the head..

SOOO.. my question is.. how much stuff has to come off to get the head out? do i have to pull the motor? obviously carbs and injectors gotta go. cams gotta come off.. how to get the timing chain off is in question. i downloaded a PDF manual. gonna peruse that and see what i can find out.. anyone ever undertaken such a task? am i going overboard in thinking the head must be removed?

HELP!!! please and thank you.

 

Mate, why go through this grief, sure you can take the head off (& all the stuff that has to removed to get to it) plus a reinstall with new gasket etc....
Helicoils where developed for just this type of thing, at least give it ago 1st & see wot happens.

 

Maybe try the heli-coil out, but they are just not a good deal. Sometimes the holes are so bogged out that heli-coil is useless. Many others have been down this path and have had to resort to taking the head off. It's not that bad of a job, just take your time.

 

Really you have 2 options -- new head or thread insert (heli-coil). For this application I actually like the thread inserts called Keysert better than heli-coils.

Either way you really need to pull the head. Sorry, but that's the best option. If you could reach with a drill do you really wanna take the chance of losing all those shavings in the crank case?

And make sure you write the previous owner a letter (no threats please ) expressing your appreciation of his mechanical ability ...

 

+1 for the recommendation for the heli-coil. Mechanically speaking, you want to try the simple-est fix first. If there's a possibility that the heli-coil will work, then why not at least try it? It will save you a-l-o-t of grief. As for holding up, I've seen some pretty buggered ones that you'd swear a heli wouldn't work on...& they did, & worked great too! Good luck in whatever you do.

 

i'm not entirely AGAINST a heli-coil. it's just that i don't think it's physically possible to get a drill in that tight an area. even a right angle drill won't fit IMO. and like chainstretcher says.. do i really want to chance getting shavings down the cylinder? not to mention even with the valve cover off. that HOLE is quite a ways down. so it's hard to see where i would be drilling and if i'm doing it straight. i think the head has to come off.

my biggest question really is... can i get the head off without taking the whole engine out????
will the head come out the top? i've got pics so far of what i'm doing. i'll post in a little bit

i've got plenty O time to do this right since i have no kids and my girlfriend isn't entirely time consuming, plus she wants me to fix it so we can go for rides again.
and yes.. the previous owner is a dip****.

i'd rather do it right than cheap or fast.

 

Then buy a ne'used head.

 

i get that.. but the big white elephant in the room is WILL the head come out the top or does the engine need to be dropped?

 

Gotta get the head off one way or another. I'd recommend pulling the radiator, taking off the front motor mounts and pivoting the motor at an angle that allows you to pull the head.

 

pull the head take it to a machine shop and get it fixed.