CB500 EXHAUST REMOVAL

Morning all

Does anyone know the best way to go about removing my exhaust headers? I have tried it before on a previous bike and one of the studs snapped - needless to say I am not looking to repeat this!

So if anyone has any tried and tested tips/methods I would be grateful if you would post them below.

Thanks

Soak the area in WD40 and leave overnight; it may need a blast with a blow lamp to help free things up.

Get some plusgas or similar penetrating oil.

Apply it every day when you get home (when the bike is hot) to the exhaust header studs/nuts for a week.

Hopefully the repeated applications and the heat from the engine should cause it to sink in and loosen some of the corrosion.

Good Luck!

..............I just did mine,
and I used a long two inch 10 socket with xstension bar and the ratchet, but I soaked the studs in wd40 overnite.
and still two of the studs unscrew'd out complete with the nut and stud attached solid to each other!
I just put them back in - carefully! when I renewed the downpipes.

Well it didnt quite go to plan.



Soaked in wd40 3 came out fine the 4th snapped!!!!

Rang local garage, nice chap, snapped studded removed this morning, £20, 25 minute wait. Cant complain



THanks for your tips though guy (and girls if applicable)



Right next thread . . . . . .

Not a bad effort, I'll have this job to content with in the next few months!

soak with wd40 or plusgas or even diesel, heat nuts with blow lamp.

First time I removed mine they were tough as... But being gentle and with a little luck they all came out fine. I then cleaned them up with WD40 and used Loctite (or your favourite brand of thread locker!) when putting them back in. Every time since that i've removed them (took me a while before finally buying SS downpipes...) it has been a piece of cake.

Hi, best to get a set of stainless replacements off fleabay. Saves a lot of headaches and well worth the dosh. :-)

After having previous mishaps removing header pipes on different bikes even after soaking with various penetrating oils, I bought a very small blow lamp from Aldi. This gives a very small pencil like hot flame which you can heat up the header nuts which makes them easier to undo without snapping the studs.

@eternally_troubled wrote:Get some plusgas or similar penetrating oil.

Apply it every day when you get home (when the bike is hot) to the exhaust header studs/nuts for a week.

Hopefully the repeated applications and the heat from the engine should cause it to sink in and loosen some of the corrosion.

Good Luck!

 This is the technique I used to remove the heavily rotten, original headers from my 1996 92,000 mile CB500 and they came off a treat. The only issue I had, if you can call it that, was that one of the studs unscrewed with the nut.

I replaced them with A4 marine-grade stainless equivalents.

I have this job on the to-do list, and I'm not looking forward to it.  I want to get the down-pipes off so that I can spray them in black VHT to match the end can that I spreayed last year...

I also want to undo it because I know that I SHOULD be able to if that makes sense.  It's like a lurking future problem that plays on my mind...

Anyway.. One other tip I read, was that if they don't want to budge, dremal a slot in the side of the nut and try to break it off the stud.  Has anyone tried that?

Off to buy my PlusGas now.....GULP!

@sullivj wrote:
Anyway.. One other tip I read, was that if they don't want to budge, dremal a slot in the side of the nut and try to break it off the stud.  Has anyone tried that?

Off to buy my PlusGas now.....GULP!

No I haven't tried that, but it sounds like a possible idea to make life easier - if you wanted to re-use the stud you would have to be careful with the dremel.

I buggered mine up when I did this, mainly because I wasn't patient enough.  

You should take the advise from previously in this thread and apply some plus-gas to a hot engine on a regular basis before trying to undo anything.

If you do end up replacing the studs with stainless-steel versions then make sure you use some copper grease on the threads that go into the alloy block or you will never get them out again.

Thanks for the tips.

I got my plus gas, so will start applying it next time I've got the bike out.

When I get it off, I'll post up a few pics.

I've been busy PlusGasing when hot and cold...

When I get to refitting, I'll put some new gaskets on. Do I need anything else? Is there any sealant or paste that needs to be applied?

@sullivj wrote:I've been busy PlusGasing when hot and cold...

When I get to refitting, I'll put some new gaskets on. Do I need anything else? Is there any sealant or paste that needs to be applied?

Just new gaskets should do you; make sure you hook the old ones out from the exhaust ports as they tend to blend in and appear part of the ports!

Will do. Thanks very much for the advice. Will post up some pics when the time comes.

Ok, after 4 PlusGas dousings, the time had come to 'give it a go'...

Firstly, I removed the end can, which was easy as I had it off last year.



Then, I removed the bottom bolt from the down pipes.


Then it was time to attempt removal of the 10mm nuts



To my happy surprise, it was easy! They all span off a treat. Not sure what torque they were at, but they  were not tight at all.



Ant then with a wiggle, they were off!



Then, I put some card over the ports, to stop anything dropping in there - unlikely I know!






Then I gave the end can a new coat of VHT






That's it for today...!

Nice one, Sully! Very satisfying!

@sullivj wrote:Ok, after 4 PlusGas dousings, the time had come to 'give it a go'...

To my happy surprise, it was easy! They all span off a treat. Not sure what torque they were at, but they  were not tight at all.

That's it for today...!

Glad to hear it went well.

This is one of the areas where the cleanliness of your bike will be a big asset - I suspect (having looked at your pictures) there is much less buildup of grot and corrosion on the front of your engine than the 'average' CB.

All that grot that normally gets stuck on the front of the engine traps the water which will speed the corrosion of the nuts/studs and alloy - not a problem you will have had!

Looks good.
Is it rattle can spray paint? I've only ever seen the VHT stuff in tins so just put it on with a brush when I done mine.

Yes, it's in a rattle can. Goes on nice and easy.

I need to rub it back in places where I hadn't prepped it properly. That's not an issue as I don't like the colour of this VHT - it's too light. The last can I had was a darker black..



I suspect you're right about the lack of corrosion making it easier. I'm convinced the PlusGas helped too.

When I've prepped and sprayed the down pipes, I'll post again.

I bought my TANGO cb500 to be a hack.. Before I knew it, I'm sucked in and it will soon be concourse!

Rubbed down the pipes with some 600 grade wet and dry. Actually, they look better than I thought.

I'll give them another rub tomorrow and then they'll be ready for coat 1.




Then I removed a bit of loose paint on the can and filled the void with some knifing putty. That will be smoothed off tomorrow too.




Don't you just love improving your steed?!

After a bit more rubbing down, filler & de-grease, they're both had a can each of VHT..

I will get some more and give a 2nd coat once it's properly hardened.

Chuffed with the result so far.

Rubbed and sprayed twice more with 1200 grit each time.

I think I'm finally there and ready to refit. I'm pleased with the result but only time will tell if it's a good long term solution...

The can is stamped 'solfer' and 'Honda', so I guess it's OEM.