striped bolts

[stretchintha420]

hi, i have had to take alot of things on and off in my build, and by no surprise i keep having striped bolts. anyone want to tell me how to change studs?muffler etc. and i have the motor out right now, after about a tank of breakin gas. anything else i should look into while i wait for my oversized motor mounts?

 

[Allen_Wrench]

If I had to hazzard a guess, I'd say you've got a 2 stroke. And I'm betting the bolt stripping problem is just simply a property of having an aluminum case, jug, and head. It's too easy to gang up on these things when they get you flustered, then you start to forget they're only aluminum.

I suppose it could also be a flaw in the casting too. But if it keeps happening, then you're letting the engine get to you - while you still have a wrench in your hand. I can tell when I'm getting heavy-handed. That's about the time I seek out my long-neck friend Samuel Adams, or maybe take a romp in the Hoegaarden.

 

[DaveC]

The boltholes in many motors are not tapped to the bottom of the hole. You only have a short bit of the thread in the hole, makes it easy to pull the studs right out. All of the mounting, intake and exhaust, and head stud holes should be tapped. Harbor Freight has a pretty nice set of metric taps for about $12.

Actually, using a torque wrench is good for all the mounting nuts, too. When a 6mm only needs 8 ft lbs over reefing on the nuts can cause the studs to break as well as the chance of pulling the threads out.

 

[Nashville Kat]

The double nut lock-down technique works great in getting studs out- just tighten two nuts together and then back them out- I use two open end wrenches and have slightly more pressure on the bottom one.