GS 550L Gets a make over

[Hoosier Daddy]

Ahem....

http://maine.craigslist.org/mcy/2732239712.html

Just trying to help out!

[Redneck]

HD you suck..lol. My wife would kill me but damn that looks like a hard deal to pass up. lol. Maybe I convince her since I will be making nearly an hour commute so she can live wear she wants to in Jacksonville this summer. Hmmm. Did I mention you suck.

Must finish current project... but the future one is just waiting to be taken... dooh....

Paul

[Hoosier Daddy]

HD you suck..lol. My wife would kill me but damn that looks like a hard deal to pass up. lol. Maybe I convince her since I will be making nearly an hour commute so she can live wear she wants to in Jacksonville this summer. Hmmm. Did I mention you suck.

Must finish current project... but the future one is just waiting to be taken... dooh....

Paul

Heh heh... just yankin your chain! Wanted to show they can be had, even cheaper than that if you are patient. Most guy's who want a Goldwing are looking for a newer 6-cylinder sofa-cruiser, these old 4's have a small following but are mostly ignored by the custom bike builders.
You know, I traded an old lawn mower for mine...

[Redneck]

Yeah but man that is quite a deal $700 for both of them. One almost road worthy so he says. Unfortunately it does not say where in Maine and I would not be able to do it till after Income tax returns hit the bank. The joy of being broke. Don't we just love the holiday season with teenage boys and little princess girls.

Paul

[Redneck]

Work wise nothing to update so far. I did get the bike over to my buddies shop so that he can help me get the stuck exhaust bolt out. We are going to pull the engine this afternoon. Then, I believe the next mechanical work will be to find out what size shims I need to get all the valve clearances right. I currently only have one valve with correct clearance, the rest are in contact with the lobes at all times no spacing. You know after reading what I wrote I have to go back and reread the procedure for valve clearance checks something don't sound right.

Paul

[Redneck]

Celebrate Celebrate

The Bolt is out sing it to the masses.... Woot



The process was drill it out.. sorry did not get camera out soon enough for that. We drilled a small hole as a pilot hole then used a much larger bit for the larger size easy out. Next we took a butane torch heated up the aluminum around the bolt, and it started coming out and I almost cried.

here is the easy out working the bolt out





Afterwards we did find that one of my vavle cover bolt holds had been tapped out and a helic coil added. Now I have to get a 6mm helic coil kit.



By the way here is a picture of the bike my buddy built from the ground up after he recieved it as a basket case.



So now i need to get a bottoming 8mm tap and a bottoming 6mm tap and Helic Coil set. Anyway time to move on to getting the right shims.

Paul

[brslk]

That must be a huge relief that came out without too much trouble.
Good job. I always imagine the worst when using easy outs.

Bruce.

[Sci85]

Hooray! It's Miller time!

[pete]

Awesome news Paul! Now you can make real progress... love it when things like that are out of the way, takes a huge weight off your shoulders

[Hoosier Daddy]

Congrats! That is the way it should work but it usually doesn't seem to happen.

[Redneck]

Congrats! That is the way it should work but it usually doesn't seem to happen.

Well it helps that the guy who helped me (well he actually did everything I took pictures and held the butane torch) is a Hull Tech in the Navy, which means he is used to removing rusted or corroded bolts and other clogged items (they are also the plumbers onboard Navy ships).

Last night I went out and picked up a metric tap and die set so I can clean out the exhaust bolt holes before I attempt to put another bolt in there.



I also found these.

http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay?partNumber=138629-37672-880821&langId=-1&storeId=10151&productId=3012905&catalogId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1

Anyone see any reason why I cant use these for the exhaust bolts? I looked and they do have them in M8-1.25 x 30mm. It calls for 35mm do you think the 5mm will make a big difference? Trying to convert everything over to allen head to reduce the amount of tools that need to be carried on the bike.

Paul

[GateKeeper]

Man your lucky......neither one of my broken bolts came out, no matter how it was tried, so I had to drill out, now I have an over sized hole, and need to fill them up, re-drill and tap.....

Glad yours came out in a much better fashion

instead of a regular bolt as you had before, perhaps look at putting in a stud instead ? just a thought, I think it's the route I am going to go once I am at the stage to put the exhaust back on

[Redneck]

Unfortunately using studs would defeat my allen wrench tool kit repair kit. I am trying to reduce the amount of tools needed to work on the bike. If I can keep it up I might be down to a good set of allen wrenches to take apart anything on the bike. It is a goal I have.

Paul

[psyguy]

Remember that the header bolts bolt into aluminium which is a soft material and they are also exposed to repeated heat cycles, so you dont want to loose any thread lenght. For a standard thread metric bolt you want a thread lenght of a minimum of 1.5x bolt diameter, so in this case that's 12mm. 2x bolt diameter would be ideal for alu application, i.e. 16mm thread lenght.

As GK said, the studs/nuts are the best option, but I understand your reasoning, too.

[Redneck]

Remember that the header bolts bolt into aluminium which is a soft material and they are also exposed to repeated heat cycles, so you dont want to loose any thread lenght. For a standard thread metric bolt you want a thread lenght of a minimum of 1.5x bolt diameter, so in this case that's 12mm. 2x bolt diameter would be ideal for alu application, i.e. 16mm thread lenght.

As GK said, the studs/nuts are the best option, but I understand your reasoning, too.

What he said! You know if he didn't sound so right, I would have a hard time believing him based on his Avatar and Username. Well then the 30mm length bolt should be more than sufficient was not sure how much room is at the bottom of the bolt hole may just buy a 40mm and put one in to see if it will go in far enough. Unfortunately I had bolts available in 10mm increments though I am sure if I look around a little more I can find 35mm length which is the length of the OEM bolt.

Today after work planning on going over swapping the swing arm and putting the engine back in. Was planning on bringing the bike home but looks like the weather will have me waiting till tomorrow when its is not raining/sleeting. It will be sunny and warm (if your in Alaska or the Yukon) High of 20 degrees F. Sweet.

Paul