Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Stuck nuts
The engine bolts on both bikes were undone readily with a pair of 13mm ring keys. I'm sure the penetrating oil helped.
The exhaust nuts and various pipes were removed easily from the X1 using a C-spanner. However the front exhaust nut on the X3 engine was seized solid. It would not move with application of oil, heat or force. I was worried about damaging the head. NLM have a big castellated spanner for this eventuality but I would have trouble getting the engine to them. As the header was rusty I decided, after much soul searching, to cut the header off and then remove the exhaust nut by cutting it into sections from inside using an electric multitool (ie nearly a Dremel) and emery cut-off discs.
This was a slow job and although succesful I wouldn't recommend it as an approach to anyone either impatient or with big hands. It took a week of evenings to cut the nut into little bits that could be removed with little force.
The engine bolts on both bikes were undone readily with a pair of 13mm ring keys. I'm sure the penetrating oil helped.
The exhaust nuts and various pipes were removed easily from the X1 using a C-spanner. However the front exhaust nut on the X3 engine was seized solid. It would not move with application of oil, heat or force. I was worried about damaging the head. NLM have a big castellated spanner for this eventuality but I would have trouble getting the engine to them. As the header was rusty I decided, after much soul searching, to cut the header off and then remove the exhaust nut by cutting it into sections from inside using an electric multitool (ie nearly a Dremel) and emery cut-off discs.
This was a slow job and although succesful I wouldn't recommend it as an approach to anyone either impatient or with big hands. It took a week of evenings to cut the nut into little bits that could be removed with little force.
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