Carb Joint Cover bolts stripped

[deekjx]

The screws that hold the carb cover on are phillips head and the bike came with them horribly stripped. The previous owner told me about this at the time of purchase. I tried using the screw extraction tool I got from home depot and its a no go. It just files off more of the bolt. I've read on previous posts that I should not pound on it because it can crack the manifold so I skipped the step about hammering the extraction bit into the hole.

Anyone have a good way of getting these 4 bolts off? :ummm: Its almost like they have been welded in. I was thinking about drilling all the way through but this will surely strip the port on the manifold.

 

[one2dmax]

Which ones? The small phillips holding the carb covers or the larger phillps holding on the intake covers? You can drimmel a slot in them for a standard screwdriver or use vice grips. I use a manual impact on the carb cover screws (4 per cover though one screw is a tamper proof torx from the factory). We quit using a hammer type impact on the intake cover screws (2 per cover) after we found the boss breaking off and causing a crack and intake leak on one set.

Sean

 

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I'd try grinding a slot in them with a dremel and using a big, flat head screwdriver to remove them.

If that fails I'd use a small drill bit to drill right into the center of the bolt and then tap a small, square style, bolt extractor in and try that.

EDIT: I was assuming you were talking about the chrome manifold covers. If you are talking about the diaphragm covers on the carbs I would try a light tap with the impact screwdriver first. That worked for me on a couple but not all. I didn't want to get medieval on my carbs with the impact screw driver and hammer so I resorted to a dremel and making some slots. That took care of the remaining ones.

 

[deekjx]

The big round silver ones in the attached photos. There are only two per cover. They are made of some soft metal it seems because even hand twisting with as much pressure I can get with one hand pushing and the other hand holding the bike still removes metal bits. I'll have to call around and see which of my friends has a dremel.



I ordered my carb sync tool today so hopefully once I get these off, I can start doing my 16k maintenance. I think I can do everything except the bearings stuff. Well have to take it somewhere for that part.

 

[ninjaneer]

ah those! ya, they were a pain the first time i tried to take them off. spray on some penetrating oil and let it set while you dremel a slot into them.

 

[tugla]

if there is anything left you can try just a flat screwdriver, NE'ers trick. or grab with flat tip VG pliers, might get lucky.

 

[Ridin Dirty]

The big round silver ones in the attached photos. There are only two per cover. They are made of some soft metal it seems because even hand twisting with as much pressure I can get with one hand pushing and the other hand holding the bike still removes metal bits. I'll have to call around and see which of my friends has a dremel.



I ordered my carb sync tool today so hopefully once I get these off, I can start doing my 16k maintenance. I think I can do everything except the bearings stuff. Well have to take it somewhere for that part.

I had the same problem. Vise grip pliers did the trick. Their really not that tight, the screw metal is just very soft.

 

[davidon]

Use a proper size phillips bit and they will come out unless the slots are totally buggered (I use a very large type.. socket bit with no sharp point on it like its been cut off)

 

[ninjaneer]

i had the same problem. Vise grip pliers did the trick. Their really not that tight, the screw metal is just very soft.

+1

 

[deekjx]

The Phillips portion was way to far gone. I've gotten two off. It took over 18 foot pounds of torque. I chanced beating the screw remover in to it. I got it wedged enough to try slowly applying increasing torque. it didn't twist till 20 foot pounds.

I did buy a dermal, seems my collection of tools has been increasing a lot since getting my bike. It's hard to get a good angle to cut the bolt. The Sparks near the carb wasn't good but I was able to use a lower setting. The cut isn't quite good enough but I'll keep working at it.

Thanks for all the help guys

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

 

[ninjaneer]

...
I did buy a dermal, seems my collection of tools has been increasing a lot since getting my bike...

Hahahaha! :rofl_200:It'll only increase as I have slowly found out over the course of 12 months. I have completely run out of room on my 6' x 4' pegboard, my 6' x 2' workbench, a 6' x 2' cabinet, a 2' x 8' shelf above the work area, and one of those folding (now permanently open hehehehe) 2' x 4' tables. i've got a nest of crap surrounding the bike's parking spot as well. :lol_hitting:

 

[sdt354]

The big round silver ones in the attached photos. There are only two per cover. They are made of some soft metal it seems because even hand twisting with as much pressure I can get with one hand pushing and the other hand holding the bike still removes metal bits. I'll have to call around and see which of my friends has a dremel.



I ordered my carb sync tool today so hopefully once I get these off, I can start doing my 16k maintenance. I think I can do everything except the bearings stuff. Well have to take it somewhere for that part.

I wouldn't go near those with a hand impact or like Sean said you'll be buying manifolds. Been there. I put never-seize on the new ones I put in. Try the craftsman screw extracters that go on a drill. They are left hand turning. They drill into the screw then bite and spin them out. I've had good luck with these on small screws.
I think those covers are plastic chromed. They cost about $38 each though. If you wreck them (assuming ,you don't mind the cost) and remove them, you could prolly get a pencil torch on the thread boss. Heat will help.
If that doesn't work you'll have a center already for a drill and tap. Phillip heads are easy to center drill, if not totaled.
Steve

 

[sdt354]

The screws that hold the carb cover on are phillips head and the bike came with them horribly stripped. The previous owner told me about this at the time of purchase. I tried using the screw extraction tool I got from home depot and its a no go. It just files off more of the bolt. I've read on previous posts that I should not pound on it because it can crack the manifold so I skipped the step about hammering the extraction bit into the hole.

Anyone have a good way of getting these 4 bolts off? :ummm: Its almost like they have been welded in. I was thinking about drilling all the way through but this will surely strip the port on the manifold.

Use a stop on the drill bit. A countersink on the drill bit backwards works great. The kind used for wood with one or two allen screws. You set the drill depth where ever you want.
Steve-o

 

[dannymax]

if there is anything left you can try just a flat screwdriver, NE'ers trick.

Yup! I always use a smallish flat screwdriver on these, never had a problem.

 

[one2dmax]

The proper size is a #3 phillips. To complicate matters even more the even more proper fit is a japanese cut (usually the standard #3's around the states work fine).

Sean

 

[deekjx]

I finally got it off thanks to the information you all provided. The screw extractor worked on 3 bolts, and the dremel w/ flathead worked on the last bolt. I didn't use an impact driver with the screw extractor but what I did might be similar. I drilled into the screw with a standard drill bit. Then I took the screw extractor and lightly taped it into place with a hammer. Then slowly testing with increasing torque backed them out. The one I had to use the dremel on was toast when it came to trying to use any of the screw extractors. I buggered it up worst than it already was.

I'm positive that whom ever tried to service this bike previously tried using a number 2 or smaller phillips. There was one that I probably had enough edge to try the number 3 but went with the number two and hosed it. The others were already so messed up you would have thought they were allen bolts.

What size are these bolts supposed to be? I thought I read on another thread they were 4 mm. I bought 4, 5, and 6 mm allen bolts because just in case. The 6 mm bolts are the ones that fit. I wonder if it was so tight because they re-threaded the manifold. It is possible that the thread I read was referring to different bolts in the same area.

Thanks everyone for the support. :banana:

 

[[email protected]]

Threads on those bolts are supposed to be 6mm x 1.
I got an old set of carbs, manifolds, and manifold covers that was missing these screws. I did not feel like buying a set of OEM ones so I just searched thru my bolt bins and came up with some stainless button heads along with stainless belleville washers and used those. Since the OEM bolts have a large shank where they pass thru the grommet on the covers I came up with some homemade sleeves to take up the slop.

 

[deekjx]

That's good to know. Glad to hear they didn't have to do anything to it. You never know with used bikes what the previous owners did with the thing. Givent he condition of the bolts, I'm pretty sure the carbs haven't been synced in a very long time. Where the bolts were stripped out, rust had formed in some spots on them. I found the ports to hook up the carb sync tool. Its just a matter of waiting for it to arrive. I'll look into how to do a full blown tuning of the carburetors while I'm at it.

 

[sdt354]

I finally got it off thanks to the information you all provided. The screw extractor worked on 3 bolts, and the dremel w/ flathead worked on the last bolt. I didn't use an impact driver with the screw extractor but what I did might be similar. I drilled into the screw with a standard drill bit. Then I took the screw extractor and lightly taped it into place with a hammer. Then slowly testing with increasing torque backed them out. The one I had to use the dremel on was toast when it came to trying to use any of the screw extractors. I buggered it up worst than it already was.

I'm positive that whom ever tried to service this bike previously tried using a number 2 or smaller phillips. There was one that I probably had enough edge to try the number 3 but went with the number two and hosed it. The others were already so messed up you would have thought they were allen bolts.

What size are these bolts supposed to be? I thought I read on another thread they were 4 mm. I bought 4, 5, and 6 mm allen bolts because just in case. The 6 mm bolts are the ones that fit. I wonder if it was so tight because they re-threaded the manifold. It is possible that the thread I read was referring to different bolts in the same area.

Thanks everyone for the support. :banana:

I'm glad it worked out for ya.
Steve