Hi all, It's come to winter here, so now starting to do some of the repairs and maintenance my bike has needed (2002 FXDL). I've removed my exhaust as there was a leak at the front port... rear head exhaust studs came out okay, but the two front stud nuts had rotted in position (before i bought the bike, best to add). Ended up having to grind off what was left of the nuts, and remove the exhaust. (the studs are in solid). i've had one try at welding a nut on the end, but the stud snapped. i think there may be enough stud left to try this again, but to be honest i'm resigned to the fact that i will most likely have to remove the head and drill out the studs.
Anyway.. I took a quick snap of the port, and the surface looks shocking! any advice on what to do to clean this up before installing new gasket and exhaust?


Any advice will be welcome, thank you.

 

Im not trying to be snarky, but how did the frame, head, and cylinder get in such bad shape?

 

No worries at all - I bought it as a fixer upper, so i knew there would be work needed to spruce her up. Previous owner had it as their everyday ride.

 

Man is that bad. The exhaust stud is snapped as well. Your best bet is a set of used heads.

 

Regarding the port issue, it looks like a gasket is still in there. Get an angled pick to hook into it and work it out, but be careful not to scratch the port face itself.

 

Hi Jason, to be fair it looks worse in the photo... high res, and just after trying to weld the nut on so not cleaned up at all. I've ordered a Jims drilling jig to remove the broken stud, so that shouldnt be a problem. Trouble over here in UK is that EVERYTHING rusts, lol.... but yeah, the pic makes it look worse than it really is.

 

HI OB, I've since taken the gasket out (using a pick like you say). I've managed to get the cylinder head off now so i'll have better access to the area. I think the crud on the face is baked on dirt. Obviously i need to remove it, just thinking out loud what's the best way to do it, without damaging the cylinder head.
I've ordered a Jims style drilling jig for the studs, but no one supplies them in the UK... ordered from US and should be here in a fortnight or so, all being well.

 

I would expect a wire brush will get that off. Maybe even in a Dremel.

 

Cheers Andy. I've not had a chance to have a crack at it yet, but i'll try that first. I've got a dremel too, so i can pick up a wire attachment easy enough.

thanks again!

 

By the look of that picture the bike was parked under water (lol) Since you can see you have a abused bike, and the heads are off take everything to a machine shop, do a topend on her your are part way there.