Removing Exhaust Headers

[szrdave]

I'm trying to pull the top end off the SZR to see what damage the recent engine failure has done.

All fixings holding the headers on have been removed, but the buggers are stuck!

Any tips on how to get them off?

There isn't room to get behind with a drift, and nothing to lever against.

[jaycee]

I'm trying to pull the top end off the SZR to see what damage the recent engine failure has done.

All fixings holding the headers on have been removed, but the buggers are stuck!

Any tips on how to get them off?

There isn't room to get behind with a drift, and nothing to lever against.

I had a similar problem with a Fazer 600 i fixed for someoen years agao. I think I used a combination of heat from a blow-lamp and shock from a rubber mallet to free up the pipes. I also soaked everything in WD40 overnight before resorting to this.

[alexp5]

What material is the header gasket made from?

I only ask as I had a game removing the headers on my YZF. The gaskets were copper and I tried all the usual suspects to no effect. Ended up squirting vinegar around them. The acetic acid reacts with the copper and dissolves the oxide including the burnt carbon glueing it together... so I'm told .

A gentle tap with a deadblow mallet and the death grip was released. Mebbe it was a fluke but it worked. Worth a go?

[YZ faybo]

Just had some on an SRAD that were seized by god's own rusty hands.

At first used a torch to heat them up to expand them with a few taps with a mallet which made two free.

Other two c--s were stuck as I was replacing with a go-faster system dint care to retain them.

Used a disk cutter to remove as much of the down pipe as possible as close to the engine as possible then slit them inwards to give some relief then used a hammer to bash inwards so they collapsed in on them selfs then some gentle persuasion with pipe grips and the like.

This may not be what your after if you want to keep your down pipes but you do feel a lot better after for all the f-----g grief they gave you!

[szrdave]

I don't think the headers have been off from new, so I'd guess oem copper gaskets.

Will give the vinegar a go along with a bit of blow torch and rubber mallet action!

[Kayla]

Would plumber's freeze spray work? That'd shrink the headers a little and help break any corrosion loose.

[szrdave]

Still stuck on this one, it's the only major thing left to do before dropping the engine out

The headers are stainless, going into an aluminium head. I've tried soaking in WD40 then vinegar as mentioned above, heating and then twatting with a lump hammer.

I've also had all my weight on a piece of wood stuck up the chuff of the pipe after the headers join into one, and still no movement.

Tomorrow I'll try heating them up more than I did today and giving them more of the same abuse, if all else fails I'll have to cut them off and let the place that bores the cylinder out deal with them.

But then there's no point replacing them with stock, so I'll have to get a better set of headers made up, and the costs double.

Then, I'd have a bored out high comp motor with larger diameter headers running on the stock carb (which you can't rejet without using a drill). So finally fitting my flatslides and the cost has trebled and it won't be back on the road for a year! Although by this point the engine would be pretty sorted.

So before I end up with an unfinished project stuck at the back of the shed, any more advice on shifting those bastard headers?!

Any barely legal caustic solutions I can apply?

I'm almost tempted to heat the outside of the exhaust ports up and use freeze spray on the headers, but don't want to end up cracking the head.

[abos]

Stainless and alloy are notorious for this problem as they battery together and react. Soak with a proper penetrating oil overnight (not WD 40 which is a water dispersant hence the the WD) then heat up the head, tap the header lightly around its circumference close to the head whilst pulling the header to and fro, with perseverance this should work.