I posted something yesterday anticipating difficult, and sure enough it is giving me problems. When removing my headpipe, one of the exhaust studs got cross-threaded. Although it was hard, the nut came off without breaking the stud. But both the nut and stud are completely unuseable again. So now I'm tasked with getting the stud out of the head. I need some help here. It is the rear/upper stud, so there's not a lot of room back there. There's no way of double-nutting it, as the threads are thrashed. I briefly tried to use a good pair of vice grips, but it's difficult to get a hold on the stud in the cramped area. And the stud doesn't seem to be moving at all.

What do I do here? I expected this to take a few hours for the complete job that I'm doing (removing cat), but this may turn into a major issue if I can't get that stud out.

HELP!

 

Get the nut on the stud, just enough to hold itself in place then tack weld the nut to the stud and remove it.

 

How bad is the stud? can you get a die on there to rethread or a thread chaser to re cut the threads ..and then double nut it and remove ? If you can start the die by hand you can then turn it with a socket .......

 

Sounds like it is either going to need heat or a welder, one of the two.

 

Actually, if you are good with a welder, Mr. Rowdy's idea might work. I say might because exhaust studs can have a habit of kicking your a$$. I owned an undercar service shop for years and exaust was a major part of the business. If you are going to try welding a nut on the stud 1. Disconnect the battery from the bike, this will prevent electrical surges that will damage the E.C.M. 2. Be sure to use a "welding blanket" or material that is very heacy and flame proof tho protect the scooter from being damaged form the sparks flying while you are welding. 3. Have tools ready to try and twist the stud as soon as you are done welding. The heat created by weldin will/may assist you in getting the stud to turn. BE CAREFUL not to twist the stud off in the head !!! Alosn remember that you are dealing with two different metals, aluminum and steel so gauling may occur. If you tear the thread up in the cylinder head while removing the stud you can use a Heli-Coil or Keen-Sert kit to repair the threads. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyCTh23Z6o0 Hope this helps. Good luck and remember ... take your time !!

 

I just wanted to drop a quick note and say THANK YOU for all of your suggestions. Although I have access to a mig welder, I have never welded, and I did not want to test out my skills on my bike. So I was hopeful that heat and vice grips would do the job. And thankfully they did. The only item that I had to buy was a small pair of vice grips, as all of mine were too big. It took me several attempts, but I eventually heated it up to an adequate temperature and I was able to fight it out of the head. No galling either. Put a new stud in with a coating of nickel anti-seize for good measure.