Forum

[Jim]

Is nowt ever simple on these Boolits? My EFI has a leaking exhaust seal. After some excellent service by Mr H and his minions I soon had a replacement in my hot, sweaty little hand. Easy job. Off with the two flange nuts and exhaust mounting bolts, remove the old seal and slip the other in. Bolt everything up and Bob's your mother's brother.Except for the fact that I can't get the exhaust flange off the head studs. The top of the top stud appears to be binding on the top of the hole in the flange and won't move past it. I'm reluctant to use too much force for fear of damaging the thread.If the stud is not bent then it's mounted in the head at a slight angle and I don't know which. Either way, I think it's going to be a hide mallet on the exhaust pipe while my son in law supports the pipe for me. It's enough to make me start drinking again.

[Gwilly]

Jim i'm wondering if the other stud could be removed from the head to give wiggle room..

It doesn't surprise me that the stud isn't straight, either tapped at an angle or had a thump during production..

Probably why its blowing.. If you have to force the pipe off and skin the thread in the process you could try a thread chaser, or a new M8 shouldered stud would not be a great expense, just a bit of a faff you could have done without..

[Jim]

Gwilly, obviously I can't get the stud out without removing the exhaust but I think you are right in what you say, I think it is tapped at an angle. We'll see what happens when I whack the exhaust with my mallet. The the thread chaser might be needed.

[Norm]

Jim if these are the biggest problems you are coming across thank christ you didn't buy a Cast Iron or an Electra

[Jim]

Trouble is Norm, at almost 72 and without a workshop or any kind of cover, small jobs take on a larger perspective. Throw in knackered knees that let me get down to a job but not back up again, and dizzy spells when I drop my noggin down to try and look at something, and you see the problem I've got.Still, problems are there to be overcome.

[Michael]

Hi Jim, this is not too dissimilar to a job I just tackled on my EFI. Did you get the flange nuts off easy enough? If so, great (I didn't, but luckily heat and patience wound the studs themselves out and I cut them off - new studs are a quid each or thereabouts). Secondly, the flange bends and this will be why it won't come off. I don't think it'll be the studs - although it might be!!!!! The flange mounts at the two extreme ends of an oval, so as a result it bends inwards (towards the head, in a slight bowl shape) at the mounting points when the nuts are torqued up. The flange doesn't rest/mount/touch on anything on the head - it is simply the tension of the stud nuts keeping it in place. This slight bend probably means that the drillings in the flange are no longer parallel to the studs.




I reckon you have a few options... buy two new studs just in case is part of most of these options Prise it gently with a bit of an understanding about where the pinch points are (see possible explanation above) OR try to wind out the studs... they should separate no problem if you get them wound out as there will be no tension anymore OR hit it.




Good luck!!!

[Norm]

Jim I hear you, I'm coming 68 have over the years broken both hips an ankle and a leg in many places so I know what it is like to get down on the ground and then have to find something you can use to climb back up onto your feet again and then add to that these dodgy Enfield and bad parts and my family wonders why I drink

[papasmurf]

Personally I think this is one of those instances copperslip or similar is you friend. lag the exposed part of the studs with it before trying to remove the clamp.
Whenever anyone mentions an bent exhaust clamps and/or studs I wonder how that happened when the torque for the nuts is only around 8ft lbs. As for nuts and the thread above them getting seized and corroded. I always copper clip threads when assembling any thing, and it is quite acceptable to apply locktight as well to an area of thread the nut will cover when fully torqued up.

[Jim]

Mystery solved. The bend in the exhaust looks wrong. I can't get it to sit concentrically in the hole in the flange, it's bearing on one side and so it won't slide easily into the head. It looks like they tried to solve the problem at the factory by riving the flange nuts up tight and bent one side of the flange. As it looks like pot metal I'm not game to try and straighten it and have followed their procedure and not have a gas tight seal. However, it's only jury rigged and I don't know how long it'll last. If it goes again I think I'll junk the whole system and fit an aftermarket one from Mr.H.

[Jim]

Correction for spelling. I NOW have a gas tight joint. Wish they'd get an edit function on here.