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Should I bother removing my headers to clean them? Should I bother removing my headers to clean them?
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Yamaha Tech Originally the Yamaha XT600 Tech Forum, due to demand it now includes all Yamaha's technical / mechanical / repair / preparation questions.
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  #1  
Old 3 Feb 2012
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Should I bother removing my headers to clean them?
Hi,

My headers are rusty on my XT600E but not rotten. I was planning on removing them, getting rid of the rust, painting them and refitting.

I've heard horror stories of the studs snapping like they are made of cheese.

Also, supposing all goes well I can refit the nuts with copper grease to hopefully stop them from seizing in the future.

Worth the risk?

Cheers
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Old 3 Feb 2012
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You're right. The studs are like cheese... You can try getting them nice and hot first and having a go.

Personally, I'd remove the pipes and ditch them. Get some stainless ones from Motad if you're planning on keeping the bike long term. If not, just leave them on and wait for them to rot. They will probably last a lot longer than you think unless they are seriously pitted.

If you do get the bolts out, get some new bolts (HEX head) and put them in with plenty of copper grease.


Painting header pipes is usually a waste of time. It takes LOADS AND LOADS of preparation to get the rust off and you will spend about £20 in high temp paint which will only wear off in a couple of years with the weather.
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Old 3 Feb 2012
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Thanks Ted for the info. You know what, they'll last until April when I go to Morocco, I'll have a go when it becomes absolutely necessary. Until then I'll use ACF-50 on them a regularly soak the nuts in penetrating oil.
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Old 3 Feb 2012
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TheBaldReverend View Post
Thanks Ted for the info. You know what, they'll last until April when I go to Morocco, I'll have a go when it becomes absolutely necessary. Until then I'll use ACF-50 on them a regularly soak the nuts in penetrating oil.
Exactly... If it ain't broke don't fix it..

Once you go down that route of "If it ain't broke , fix it until it is" , things start getting expensive and stressful.

Trust me. I know the hard way.
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Old 4 Feb 2012
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+1 ditch them pipes & get some stainless jobbies, like Ted said do it when the heads warm & plenty of penatrating fluid even days before you attempt to remove them.

Quite often the whole stud will come out with the nut welded on with rust, if that`s the case just buy new studs. Don`t go & re-use them even if you can get the nut off in a vice, just replace with new & smear some copperslip on as well for future.

Ive removed 20 odd in the last couple of years & on half of them the whole stud came out the head (nut seized on the stud) this is why its good to do it with a hot engine (head expands).

Mezo.
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Old 4 Feb 2012
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I will do it later in the year - I'm hoping a regular soaking in penetrating oil until then will help me.

Having said that, I've never had a stud break on any other bike, are the XT's particularly prone to this?
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Old 27 Feb 2012
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Mezo View Post
+1 ditch them pipes & get some stainless jobbies, like Ted said do it when the heads warm & plenty of penatrating fluid even days before you attempt to remove them.

Quite often the whole stud will come out with the nut welded on with rust, if that`s the case just buy new studs. Don`t go & re-use them even if you can get the nut off in a vice, just replace with new & smear some copperslip on as well for future.

Ive removed 20 odd in the last couple of years & on half of them the whole stud came out the head (nut seized on the stud) this is why its good to do it with a hot engine (head expands).

Mezo.
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