frozen exhaust bolts

[83GSrider]

Have you made any progress with your bolts? I live in Flemington, might be able to help you. Let me know.

[drewandkellie]

The Final Solution

I don't know if anyone will ever read this but I feel like I need to tell you how it all turned out. I drilled through the center of the four broken bolts 7/32" Bit, and sprayed PB leaster on them and in them twice a day, hitting them with a hammer lightly for 10 Days. I then tried bolt extratctors. NO GOOD. I tried driving a torx bit in and turning it, NO GOOD. I wanted to use heat but couldn't get hold of an acetylene torch easily. SO......

I tapped the "petrified" boken bolts one size under the stock thread. Stock is 7MM 100. I tapped them 6mm 100. I bought the approriate bolts and washers and the bike is on the rode once again. Whew what an ordeal!

I took a beating from JIMCOR, for my original haste and he was right, broken bolts are their own punishment. But you guys were incredibly helpful with your suggestions. It made me feel like there were definate options for a crappy situation. I really appreciate this site and you all!! Thank You.

[GS850_Coug]

Thanks for the update! I realized a couple weeks ago that the PO of my bike busted one of the bolts off and never fixed it. Just left one header with only one bolt holding it in.:shock: The guy was a freakin' idiot!!! Lot's of Mickey Mouse work here.

[195suz]

When you put the bolts back in make sure to put some antisieze on them that \\/ way you wont be doing this again

[Tom MLC]

When you put the bolts back in make sure to put some antisieze on them that \\/ way you wont be doing this again

Ditto that. As I was reading this thread I was thinking the same thing. ESPECIALLY when using SS bolts in the aluminum head. You will not regret it when next you take them out!

[jimcor]

That was no beating, that was a chiding. Besides, you had it coming...8-[

Glad you worked it out.

[Nessism]

I love my GS bike but I can't help but think that Suzuki screwed up when they designed the head to take bolts to hold the exhaust pipes on. Has anyone had luck with switching the bolts over to studs so the darn things don't snap off in the head?

[DaveDanger]

Then you are allowed to experience the joy of removing broken studs from the head after the nuts "weld" themselves to the studs and refuse to turn. There is no perfect solution to this dilemma. The best that you can do is ANTI-SEIZE! ANTI-SEIZE! ANTI-SEIZE!
Dissimilar metals and heat/moisture create an environment that simply is not good for threaded fasteners. No way around it.

[dardoonk]

The PO of my bike was kind enough to offer an exhaust system with both studs and bolts when I got the bike. I went 2 for 4 removing the bolts and 4 for 4 removing the studs. When I rebuild the head I will have all studs.

All eight got three days of PB and I only had trouble with one stud. To remove that nut, I very carefully cut across the side of the nut with a cut-off wheel (stop before you make it to the threads), then I gave it a shot of torch; and off it came.

On the other hand, the bolts forced me to launch a blitzkrieg of F-bombs that the neighbors will not soon forget. Since I was already resigned replace any broken bolts with studs, I did give up sooner than most and just cranked away when I felt the bolt begin to twist.

[Nessism]

When rebuilding an old 450 I bought a head off ebay for the cams. When it arrived I was very pleased to find all the internal components looked almost like new; cams and shim buckets per pristine (unlike my own bikes parts that were scuffed and worn). I was going to transplant the entire head onto my bike until I noticed that the exhaust port bolt holes were tore to crap on one cylinder. The bolts obviously broke off and some bone head drilled them out off center distroying the head. The previous owner said they didn't know anthing about this. At any rate, I'm no fan of bolts in an application like this.

[spchips]

three words: drill and tap

if you overdrill you can use the thread inserts (props to the ones from autozone!). Maybe this is better for corrosion because the new interface is steel-steel??

Try not to F*** up the angle too bad, or you'll have a bigger headache on your hands.

[GS850_Coug]

Here's my concern with drilling out the broken bolt(s):

I have the worst track record for trying to drill in the middle of a bolt. First, the bolt is never broken flat, so I have a sloped surface to begin with. Next, I can't seem to centerpunch deep enough to start the drill in the center of the bolt. Is there any good method to get the drill started in the center? Perhaps I should try with a 3/64"(needle) bit to start, then work up slowly to just slightly undersized?

[195suz]

Drill and tap

When drilling always start with a small pilot hole first then step up your sizes.No one can get a punch pefectly centered ,but what you can do is when you start with the small drill bit .you can actually angle the bit slightly the adjust the center a coulple of mm .

[tkent02]

Grind them flat first...

Here's my concern with drilling out the broken bolt(s):

I have the worst track record for trying to drill in the middle of a bolt. First, the bolt is never broken flat, so I have a sloped surface to begin with. Next, I can't seem to centerpunch deep enough to start the drill in the center of the bolt. Is there any good method to get the drill started in the center? Perhaps I should try with a 3/64"(needle) bit to start, then work up slowly to just slightly undersized?

Keep centerpunching until you are happy with it.
Small bits and work your way up. Use left hand drill bits if you can find them, if the stick in the hole they sometimes spin the bolt out. Go slow and keep the hole straight, if you can get your eye in the right place it helps.

[DaveDanger]

If the broken end isn't flush or below the surface, take a small grinder to the end and put as flat a surface on it as you can, to remove the sloping effect. If it is flush or below the surface already, use a dremel and a small grinding tip and use that to start a small indentation in the center of the bolt/stud. Then try to center punch and drill.
The technique of tilting the drill a tiny bit mentioned above, does work well if you start as soon as the bit begins to penetrate. Once the drill has gone in even a tiny bit, leaning it will accomplish nothing but breaking the bit. I do this daily removing rivets from aircraft skins. Admitted, aluminum rivets drill super easily, but an off center drill leaves a figure eight shaped hole no matter the material being drilled. As soon as it begins to make an indentation, lean the back of the drill in the opposite direction and allow the drill tip to work it's way sideways into the center. You may have to change direction slightly to get it exactly where you want, but it can be done. The next step is to throw away your bolt extractors!!!
I personally feel that a bolt/stud that has broken, is very rarely going to yield to any sort of extraction method, so I simply continue drilling with stepped up drill bits until I've removed enough material that I can begin to clean out the threads with a threading tap. If I do end up slightly off-center, I clean out the remainder of the damaged threads, overdrill and come back to original size with heli-coil® inserts. That does improve the situation all-around anyway, since heli-coil inserts are stainless and will actually provide a stronger grip than a bolt/stud in cast aluminum. I put my bolts or studs in with anti-seize. Always. ALWAYS.