De-stinking Penelope

[chuck hahn]

Dale..Take a 1 inch putty knife and gently tap it STRAIGHT in between the head and the cover and move over a bit and repeat.. This will cut a large portion of the gaskets loose. Then a few startegically placed flat tips and some syncronosed tapping of them in will help assit your removal...dont go buck wild and crack the cover though if possible. If you crack it dont worry..I got ya COVERED ( pun intended )

[rustybronco]

Chuck, great minds think alike. I've been out there for the last half hour with putty knife and a rubber mallet. Not only do I have to contend with the two corroded off broken flush with the top of the cam cover bolts, I have to deal with the previous jerk (P.J.) who thinks gasket shellac (indian head?) is a good idea to use on a cam cover gasket. I might have to take you up on the cam cover idea if I have to resort to cutting the two 'ears' off, but I've a lot of options before I get to that point.

[chuck hahn]

Get a crack started and spray some acetone or MEK in to the crack and let it eat away at the shellac..pry up and bit and slowly keep at it. Going down the center may be a hassle though. How about heat and pry at the same time?? MAPP gas???

[chuck hahn]

Off to work Dale..let me know how it turns out!!!

[rustybronco]

I've cut the gasket through all the way around. Now I'm dealing with the corrosion between bolt and head. Been using Maap, next up oxy-acet...

[Guest]

Could you suspend the motor from the valve cover just off a block of wood or someway where some of the weight of the motor is pulling down from the valve cover? then tap a pin post into those two broken studs, well it was just an idea.

[7981GS]

Could you suspend the motor from the valve cover just off a block of wood or someway where some of the weight of the motor is pulling down from the valve cover? then tap a pin post into those two broken studs, well it was just an idea.

And a good one too!
Just the weight should help a bit.

Eric

[Flyboy]

Nothin to add, just so you know I am following with interest

[Greenbraes]

I had exactly the same problem but only with one stud, it was as if the PO had squashed the cam cover hole onto the stud....I ended up using the dremel and cut a slot down the back and broke the hole open then carfully managed to get the stud to move with heat and vice grips. Then sourced a second hand cover....before and after pics as follows






and finally





I didn't have the engine out at the time..maybe with more patience I could have saved the cam cover...anyway good luck and watching with interest

RB

[rustybronco]

Chuck has a cover, I have a torch. Corrosion wasn't going to loosen it's grip and I wasn't going to loose. Melted the aluminum and used a screw driver to carve away the cover as I continued down the ear. Put the putty knife between head and cover, bent the studs away from the cover with a punch and pried the cover off with my 3 ft pry bar in conjunction with some liberal application of a rubber mallet. Heated the head and removed what was left of the studs with needle nosed vice grips.

No runs, no drips, no errors and NO damage done to the head.

I win!

[Greenbraes]

it is a great feeling when that broken stud starts to move...well done!!!!

RB

[rustybronco]

Yes it's a great feeling indeed! but why Lord did it have to take so long?

[rustybronco]

Heads off, cylinder is off along with three pistons removed. The forth's (#2) piston pin doesn't want to go through the rod. I'll pick up some threaded rod to make up a puller tomorrow on the way home from work.

Oh, and there's evidence something had hit the crank somewhere along the line. I hope it wasn't the reason the bike was parked.

Chuck, do you still have that spare motor tucked away?

[rustybronco]

Per Chuck Hahn's suggestion, I warmed up the small end of the rod with Maap gas and tapped the pin out.

[chuck hahn]

Pics of the crank where you think it had a hit please..sure its not grindings from factory balancing???