Worth the risk?- header bolts

[open1mind]

I am at a cross roads- and interested in opinions. I found my long lost dream bike- a 79 GS1000e. Exact clone of my first bike owned back in the early 80s, except this one is very cherry. I finally sorted some electrical gremlins, and at 9900miles on the clock it is a real cream puff. With some elbow grease this bike is near show quality, really.

My issue- the exhaust headers have some staining/bluing on the 1st 4 inches of pipe coming out of the head. The collars are also corroded a bit. Not too bad, but it shows on another wise mint bike. Incredibly, Bike bandit still seems to stock the claimps, gaskets, and the headers themselves. I am about to give the bike to the dealer for some winter freshening and storage. We had a long talk about replacing the headers and collars with NOS, but both of us are worried about the bolts being siezed. See the link to another thread, and we have all heard stories. What do you think-- would you leave it alone or take the dive?

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=202786&highlight=exhaust

 

[tkent02]

I would fix it, but I sure wouldn't take it to a dealer. Their job is not to fix old bikes, but to sell new ones. Do your research, the bolts can come out painlessly if you do it right.

 

[chuck hahn]

Acetylene torch on the heads and get them good and hot..then wick in oil when they are still hot..do outside because its gonna smoke up the place. Apply more oil and let that wick in..do this till youre relatively confident that its got well in there. Next, take a long rod and put on each bolt head and give it a few decent smacks with a hammer. This will send shock waves up the bolt and help "crack" the corrosion loose.

Now here is the IMPORTANT PART.....

Use a socket and EVER SO GENTLY see if they will give. If they do, then work them back and forth to use the bolt to grind up the corrosion. Re apply the oil very often and keep going back and forth. It is also imperative to REMOVE THE BOLTS AS A SET. In other words..remove one out a turn or 2 and then the other the same amount..stepping back and forth till they are no longer getting pinched by the collars. Be patient and go slow and youll be able to get them out without breaking them.

As for the headers..I dont think BB has an updated parts list..the headers have been NLA for many years now as I understand things.

 

[chuck hahn]

Side note...You may have to repeat the heat and oil cycling several times. Object here is to do all you can to first get as much oil soaked in as you can, then get the bolts to break free. Between the heating and cooling, the love taps on the heads, and some patience it will happen for you.

 

[Rover]

You may want to confirm that Bike Bandit actually has these items.I've seen some things listed that are no longer available.

 

[SqDancerLynn1]

You could try some of the WD40 ? freeze spray

 

[SVSooke]

You could try some of the WD40 ? freeze spray

One of the first things I was told here was WD40 is not penetrating oil.Deciding that the people here might know more than me I got some penetrating oil.WD40 is not a good penetrating oil.

 

[daturat100r]

I would avoid an acetylene torch on an alloy head just take it for a ride and get it good and hot before undoing the header bolts/nuts

 

[robertbarr]

One of the first things I was told here was WD40 is not penetrating oil.Deciding that the people here might know more than me I got some penetrating oil.WD40 is not a good penetrating oil.

I think freeze penetrant is what was meant here. I've never tried it, but it sure looks promising on an application like this.

 

[bigskybldr]

Sounds like you're aware of what the worst case scenario is. Unless the exhaust is blowing by the gaskets I don't think I'd worry to much about the blueing or a little bit of rust.
I was lucky, the PO must have put anti-seize on the bolts because the came out with no problem. I had more trouble getting the muffler off the pipe.
I'm getting studs to put back in though, just to make sure there is no problems in the future.

 

[Guest]

My issue- the exhaust headers have some staining/bluing on the 1st 4 inches of pipe coming out of the head.
http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=202786&highlight=exhaust

That seems to be the norm with pipes. My stock one and my RC pipe have the same blue staining on them. Stocks ones aren't as pronounced as the aftermarket ones. Why not do the work yourself as a winter project? To know your GS bike is to become one with it. Pretty deep huh lol.

 

[Guest]

Here is a pic of my '79 GS1000E. I replaced the exhaust because they were rusty and looked pretty bad. The exhaust I got stayed in the box I received it in for a very long time before I put them on, didn't even open it, the reason? all the horror stories I saw on GSR about snapping header bolts, and I didn't want to have to deal with that until such time I was willing to take the chance. But all the worry was for not. Even though my bike was a train wreck when I got it, those header bolts broke free with so little effort and unscrewed like they were just freshly greased. I couldn't believe my luck!
My lil GS1000E

Talk about "Blued header pipes" my '82 GS1100E has two really blued header pipes when I got it, cylinders 1 & 3. Then I found about about "Blue Job" and that did the trick. But I learned a few things using it. First clean your header to get the loose dirt and grime off of it, no sense grinding in the dirt! Use as little of the blue job as you possibly can to get the desired results, then "before" you start it, ride it or whatever, wash off with soap any blue job residue, otherwise your pipes will get some fairly interesting blackened designs on it (ask me how I know), Turtle wax chrome polish will get that off but then again, wash the residue off with soap and water. You're really working down the chrome which is why I say use as little as possible, as you can always go back to get what you missed later. In this case less is more.

Here's a shot of it not too long ago. If you do replace those pipes, headers whatever, do yourself a favor and use new header pipe gaskets, they're cheap and the old ones are crushed and fragile (again, ask me how I know). Save you from wishing you did when you had the chance. Good Luck whatever you decide to do!

 

[open1mind]

All good thoughts, amigos. I was taking it as a given that BB would actually have them in stock since the web page said so. (you mean I cant believe everything that I read on the web?) Looks like some more research is in order. The good/bad news is that I have a lot of time. Just think, only 4 more months of winter in upstate NY- yipeee!

Noted on all comments that this is really overkill for a bike that is in perfect running order and only bad can come from a truly "elective surgery" like this. The thing is, I really expect to keep this bike for the rest of my days- and it may spend a lot of time as furniture if I can have someone design the right house around it. (not entirely kidding)

 

[tatu]

I don't know what "Blue job" is but ordinary metal polish will take away the blueing, but as Sedelen says, get the pipe clean first of dirt.

 

[1_v8_merc]

Wd-40 is like the Harley Davidson of lubricants.
It was good 50 years ago, now it's just watered down and desperately trying to Cling to it's "American pride" adverts, just to make sales.
What a crock!

 

[Guest]

I don't know what "Blue job" is but ordinary metal polish will take away the blueing, but as Sedelen says, get the pipe clean first of dirt.

You see that extremely bright blue pipe on cylinder no. 3 in my previous GS1100E post below. Don't know what metal polish would've taken it out, but after reading about "Blue Job" decided to give it a try. And afterwards, no blue! So, the stuff does work. But if you don't correct whatever makes it blue, it'll just come back. For me it was rebuilding carbs.

Blue Job!
I've never used a power tool with Blue Job, just did it the old fashioned way, a damp rag over my fingertip, used as little as I could.
But check out this video! This guy wastes no time in eliminating the "blueing" and other stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta7KvVBfUYw

 

[tatu]

You see that extremely bright blue pipe on cylinder no. 3 in my previous GS1100E post below. Don't know what metal polish would've taken it out, but after reading about "Blue Job" decided to give it a try. And afterwards, no blue! So, the stuff does work. But if you don't correct whatever makes it blue, it'll just come back. For me it was rebuilding carbs.

Blue Job!
I've never used a power tool with Blue Job, just did it the old fashioned way, a damp rag over my fingertip, used as little as I could.
But check out this video! This guy wastes no time in eliminating the "blueing" and other stuff.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ta7KvVBfUYw

I can't get youtube here, this is the stuff. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI....akeTrack=true&ssPageName=VIP:watchlink:top:en

 

[tatu]

Here is a pic of my '79 GS1000E. I replaced the exhaust because they were rusty and looked pretty bad. The exhaust I got stayed in the box I received it in for a very long time before I put them on, didn't even open it, the reason? all the horror stories I saw on GSR about snapping header bolts, and I didn't want to have to deal with that until such time I was willing to take the chance. But all the worry was for not. Even though my bike was a train wreck when I got it, those header bolts broke free with so little effort and unscrewed like they were just freshly greased. I couldn't believe my luck!
My lil GS1000E

But for sure this bike looks stunning! Perfection!

 

[Guest]

But for sure this bike looks stunning! Perfection!

Isn't it amazing what money can do? It was a trainwreck when I got it. It had gone down the road on it's side for a long distance before I got it. I know that because the case saver is ground down halfway through it's diameter. Who knows, someone might've gotten hurt or killed on it. Handle bar broken and welded back together, dented the tank, bent the front peg, ground down the pipe, scrapped the seat bar and tore the seat. Must've took out the rear turn signal as they put a generic one on it. Those fog lights didn't work and were spliced in with "aluminum" tape. The left shock strut post was sheared at the nut and it and the nut was superglued on. The tires were cracking, those highway bars were bolted to the frame (and dented it) and sitting on top of my pipes. There was a birds nest where my took kit goes. Sometimes it ran on 4 cylinders, sometimes 3 and sometimes 2. Oh, the list goes on and on. Seat underpan missing a section and lift bar.
I didn't posts pics of this bike when I first got it. For one I didn't know how, and the other reason was it was so bad I didn't want anyone to see it.
But here's a few.

 

[tatu]

For sure it looks a whole lot better now, maybe we should have a before and after thread?