Awe crap

[Legend]

Well the joy continues, while pulling my 81 GS1000G apart today I had the joy of noticing that 5 out of 8 exhaust bolts were buggered, not much of a problem though right. Wrong, they have already been drilled out and Helicoiled. And the PO was kind enough to use a standard thread and bolt, should have known something was up when I had to use a 9/16 socket on it.

So my question would be, NOW WHAT?

Has anyone tried to have the holes filled and retapped by a machine shop?
Has anyone tried (and I know this may sound crazy, but I am grasping at straws) having studs tig welded into the head?

This is my first resto and will be a complete rebuild (motor currently has 90k on it and sat for 10 years) but unfortunatly is on a tight budget.

Any options would be much appreciated.

[posplayr]

Well the joy continues, while pulling my 81 GS1000G apart today I had the joy of noticing that 5 out of 8 exhaust bolts were buggered, not much of a problem though right. Wrong, they have already been drilled out and Helicoiled. And the PO was kind enough to use a standard thread and bolt, should have known something was up when I had to use a 9/16 socket on it.

So my question would be, NOW WHAT?

Has anyone tried to have the holes filled and retapped by a machine shop?
Has anyone tried (and I know this may sound crazy, but I am grasping at straws) having studs tig welded into the head?

This is my first resto and will be a complete rebuild (motor currently has 90k on it and sat for 10 years) but unfortunatly is on a tight budget.

Any options would be much appreciated.

If you are sure you can not find another size insert that would work, then....
HTS-2000 Brazing Rods

http://www.aluminumrepair.com/

If you have a torch, with oxygen this stuff will work and is simple to use. See the demos on thread repair.

My welder would not use it because he was not familiar with it but i braced fender mounts to the ED forks.

A head is going to take a lot of heat to weld though. Mapp gas will not cut it.

[Nessism]

I'd get a new/used head off ebay or the classifides. Any 1000/1100G or 1980 1000E/S head will fit. By the time you pay a machine shop to fiddle around with new guides/valves/thread repair you will be many times more money than purchasing a low mileage head off ebay. I found one for my 1000S for about $75 shipped.

Oh, and that welding rod Jim is recommending won't work since there is no way to get enough heat into the head - the aluminum disapates the heat too quickly.

[posplayr]

Oh, and that welding rod Jim is recommending won't work since there is no way to get enough heat into the head - the aluminum disapates the heat too quickly.

Ed,
That is a rather unequivocal statement . You can't use a Bic lighter that is for sure. I had a Propane/Oxy torch and had to be careful to not just puddle my fork bottoms.

IIRC, you had tried doing a fin once; what were you using? gas without Oxy will not work.

But yea, a low milage head should be the path of least resistance.
Jim

[Nessism]

I tried to use some of that aluminum brazing rod stuff with my oxy-acc welding outfit to repair a cylinder fin and couldn't get the aluminum hot enough. It might work if you preheated it to 500F or something like that but I'm not sure even that would work and you might warp the stupid head. Low mileage head is the cost effective repair for a guy that has a head with 90k on it anyway.

[posplayr]

I tried to use some of that aluminum brazing rod stuff with my oxy-acc welding outfit to repair a cylinder fin and couldn't get the aluminum hot enough. It might work if you preheated it to 500F or something like that but I'm not sure even that would work and you might warp the stupid head. Low mileage head is the cost effective repair for a guy that has a head with 90k on it anyway.

Yea your probably right; My welder you probably use his heliarch to weld up the holes and retap them.

[spyug]

I have read both your posts and I would say, as have some of the others, it will be easier and cheaper to find another engine. You are going to nickel and dime yourself into a hole with this engine. At the very least do as Ed suggests and get a new head.

When I'm looking for something I usually post on here, on my local m'c forum and on Craigslist and Kijiji. I recently joined the Vintage Motorcyle Group ( there are chapters in BC) who have hundreds of guys like us so contacts everywhere. Just get the word out. I have yet to strike out with this method. I may need to wait awhile but something will turn up.

The liter GSs may not be plentiful out your way but I'm sure there more than a few. You may need to look out of province but even with shipping it should be less costly in the long run than trying to salvage what you have.

Good luck with it and keep us up to speed on how it goes.

Cheers,
Spyug

[azr]

I had a guy weld a bolt onto one and take it out that way, but really this situation sucks the big one. A new head sounds the easiest. Noticed you're in my neck of the woods. Good to see another local GS'r.

[rustybronco]

I had the joy of noticing that 5 out of 8 exhaust bolts were buggered, not much of a problem though right. Wrong, they have already been drilled out and Helicoiled. And the PO was kind enough to use a standard thread and bolt, should have known something was up when I had to use a 9/16 socket on it.

So my question would be, NOW WHAT?

how much metal is left around the outside of the heli-coil?

is it possible that a metric "heli" could be used after you drill and retap the holes?
is it possible to re-tap to a size larger (which ever will work,metric or us) and use studs rather than bolts?
is it possible to remove and replace the damaged heli-coils?

the options are endless...

Has anyone tried to have the holes filled and retapped by a machine shop?

No, but not a bad option if your welder doesn't charge to much. then you can drill and tap the holes for the correct studs (bolts) to hold down the cost.

Has anyone tried (and I know this may sound crazy, but I am grasping at straws) having studs tig welded into the head?

You can't weld steel studs to aluminum.

[madjack57754]

Lo-buck fix would be make a new stud with sae threads on one end to thread into the head and metric on the other end. I'd start with a grade 5 bolt, cut the head off and thread that end to the needed pitch. Most people don't have metric tap & die sets so you could use hardware store metric bolts. That would save the head and get the nuts back to metric....Just a thought.

[Steve]

Lo-buck fix would be make a new stud with sae threads on one end to thread into the head and metric on the other end. ...

As bad as it is to mix metric and SAE hardware on the same machine, I think the only thing worse is to mix them on the same item.

.

[rustybronco]

If it fixes his problem, falls within His budget, I see no problem. heck, just throw a blue nut on it to identify the fastener as metric, just like "the old GM" did back in the day.

[doctorgonzo]

I'd get a new/used head off ebay or the classifides. Any 1000/1100G or 1980 1000E/S head will fit. By the time you pay a machine shop to fiddle around with new guides/valves/thread repair you will be many times more money than purchasing a low mileage head off ebay. I found one for my 1000S for about $75 shipped.

Oh, and that welding rod Jim is recommending won't work since there is no way to get enough heat into the head - the aluminum disapates the heat too quickly.

I recommend the 1100G head. It's even a tiny bit of an upgrade because of the shape of the exhaust ports. I run one on my 1000G for the EXACT same reason you are talking about, buggered exhaust bolt holes.