Pete Posted October 7, 2009 Author Posted October 7, 2009 It is great stuff! Sounds really sweet now I think for the time being I'll just watch how it goes. If it turns out to fail I'll use some of this JB Weld stuff that seems about a million times better than the other stuff I used. If that doesn't work I'll consider getting the stud welded on. I did look into getting a new manifold briefly but can't seem to find one so I reckon it's gonna be mega pricey. I can fit it myself but sadly money's a bit tight so let's hope the epoxy job'll see to it! Quote
ozz Posted October 8, 2009 Posted October 8, 2009 couldnt believe the amount of damage to the stud, I was expecting a crack or something not half of it missing pretty bad. It should hold up for a while bu the epoxy wont last for ever. If i was you i would make plans to get the stud bolt welded back into place. If you was to drop the manifold and take it to a welders they wouldnt charge muchjust to spot it back into place.God know what the chp did to it before you brought it, but you done a good job on the bodge getting it back together. Quote
Guest Posted October 8, 2009 Posted October 8, 2009 you will struggle to weld the stud to the manifold, as the stud is steel and the manifold is aluminium, you will either have to get the manifold built up with a mig weld then drill and tap it, you should be able to do this with the engine in the frame ( disconnect your battery if anything is being welded on a bike ) jb weld might work, but it's max working temp is 500 C, and the manifold a hot spot in the engine, but i`d give it a go, if it works it will save paying a welder to do it,(expensive). Quote
Pete Posted October 8, 2009 Author Posted October 8, 2009 Yeah hopefully I can get my uncle to give it a go at welding (he's a welder). I'll probably have to get him to put a filler weld in there (like you said) then I'll put a heli-coil in there...that'll definately work, but it's more £££££!I'm hoping that because of the location of the stud it'll be within temp range. It's on the manifold which obviously gets damned hot, but it's off to one side of the exhaust gas-flow and is out in the open air. Fingers crossed (there's been a lot of finger crossing, I hope I don't get arthritis) that it'll hold!And ozz, it's a lot of damage yeah! If I were to ever meet the guy that sold me the bike again I'd have to chop his balls off, I think that's the law or something in situations like this. Quote
Guest Posted October 8, 2009 Posted October 8, 2009 i'd try ebay for the helicoils, as you only need the tap and a few insertshttp://shop.ebay.co.uk/?_from=R40&_trksid=m38&_nkw=helicoil&_sacat=See-All-Categories Quote
Pete Posted October 8, 2009 Author Posted October 8, 2009 Right I've got another idea! Let's see what you all think.If my epoxy stuff fails - which I'm expecting it to - I've been thinking "oh, I could just get the stud welded to the manifold". But as the stud is steel and the manifold is aluminium that wouldn't work as the two metals hate each other. So tonight I sat thinking like this:http://www.curbly.com/uploads/photos/0000/0001/3988/grizzled_old_man_large.jpgDeep in thought I surely was. Then I came up with the idea - why not weld an aluminium stud to the aluminium manifold! Of course the only problem here is that they don't make aluminium studs or bolts. Why would they, steel is stronger...but steel won't work for what I want. So onto Google I go searching for terms like "aluminium bolt blank" and the like and obviously couldn't find anything. Then I tried "aluminium rod" and sure enough one came up at B&Q for under £7! So at half 7 there was a mad dash to B&Q to get there before 8 when it closes. I steam into the car park and clock the closing time is 9pm so relax a bit. Anyway, without wanting to make this long story even longer, basically I bought my ally rod and a die cutting set. Here's my progress pic of the thread being cut (it's a real beauty):http://i976.photobucket.com/albums/ae248/peteblakemore/DSC_02371.jpg?t=1255039781So what I think I'm going to do is ride the bike until the epoxy fails.....or until I decide it's racking me off and I can't trust it. Then I don't know how I'll get it out. I've just got a nagging thought that I'll be up in the north of Scotland or somewhere far away and it'll play up. So I may get this welded regardless of whether the epoxy holds or not.Thoughts? Quote
Guest Posted October 9, 2009 Posted October 9, 2009 I'd give it a try, aluminium is stronger than epoxy, and if it does shear when you are nipping it up you will have a sound foundation if you decide to helicoil it. Quote
Pete Posted October 9, 2009 Author Posted October 9, 2009 I'd give it a try, aluminium is stronger than epoxy, and if it does shear when you are nipping it up you will have a sound foundation if you decide to helicoil it. Good man Quote
Pete Posted October 15, 2009 Author Posted October 15, 2009 Right, it's totally buggered! The epoxy stuff failed and the JB Weld has developed a crack so I'm getting it welded!After cleaning the bike the other day I noticed a thin crack that looked about ready to pop so I decided I'd just get it welded up and save myself the nagging thought in the back of my mind if ever I were far away from home. The local garage has a seemingly very knowledgeable eastern European guy there who can TIG and MIG weld. He's had 30 (yes 30!) bikes in the past 7 years of living in the UK including a Blackbird. I feel I'm in safe hands. I was having a chat with him and apparently this isn't an uncommon problem with Blackbirds and 900+cc bikes where a numpty has tried to change the downpipes with the engine totally cold and has come to bother.He's going to "get all the fackin shit out mate" as he eloquently put it "make sure it's facking properly clean cuz aluminium is SHIT to weld if it's got shit all over it mate" and then "weld some facking aluminium shit in there, tap the facker, put a facking heli coil in - and those fackers never facking come out man, facking little bast*rds! All done...easy" said he. Nice man, very friendly. Just got to see how much it all costs now boooooo Quote
Guest Mr Miller Posted October 15, 2009 Posted October 15, 2009 Fackin' hell! What a helpful chap!Hope you get it fixed...properly...soon! Quote
Pete Posted October 16, 2009 Author Posted October 16, 2009 Right then, it all seems to be totally and utterly (for real this time) fixed! The bike was with matey boy from 1pm yesterday until 11am today (so about 7 hours give or take). In that time he dropped the fairing, dropped the radiator, dropped the exhausts, extracted all the crap and the old broken stud, welded up, re-tapped it, put a helicoil in, put everything back together, replaced coolant, and even painted part of the engine where some paint had peeled away.I was worried about cost, thinking it would be near enough £300...came to £160 total! I'm really impressed and it looks "proper" now. With the touched up paint it looks new again. I can't rate the service high enough from this seemingly back-street garage. The guy (although he had entertainingly fruity language) was as friendly as they come and really, really knew his stuff about bike. We got on pretty well and he even showed me some videos (whoa, not that kind!) of him on his Fireblade. I've got a business card at home but I'm away in London for the weekend but will update with the company's name as soon as I get back. The very helpful guy's name is Sam and he's Polish, been living in the UK for 7 or 8 years. If you're near Redditch and need any work doing on your bike go to this guy, he seriously knows his onions. It's not a bike garage, but who cares!I'll post pics up as soon as I get back Quote
Guest Posted October 21, 2009 Posted October 21, 2009 I was worried about cost, thinking it would be near enough £300...came to £160 total! I'm really impressed all that work for that price BRILLIANT glad you got it fixed ok Quote
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