Screwed

M

msimm43

Been Around the Block
Working on stripping my 76 cb750F down to the frame.

I have gotten just about everything off, but have hit a snag with the screw that connects the oil line to the crank case. I completely stripped the phillips head screw. I am now going through various efforts to get that out.

My question is in regard to the size of the screws used on the other parts of the engine (clutch cover, cylinder head cover, etc). I have been using a #3 screwdriver. It works for some screws, and others just seem to go to mush. Are the screws soft, or am I using the wrong size screwdriver?

Any help from the CB750 alumni would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Matt
 
invest in an impact driver....it's definitely worth it. Those screws will prove to be worthless. Replace them with the stainless steel hex screws taht are offered on Ebay. You end up spending about $50 shipped, usually. I would be screwed too, had it not been for the impact driver.
 
Impact driver! They are one of the first thing I use when restoring an engine. I start by spaying the screws with PB Blaster and try to remove screws by hand. If the are stubborn I then use impact driver. For stubborn and broken screws you must drill out the screw head and use a screw extractor. This is tedious and time consuming and an impact driver will remove nearly anything.

Save you old screws for reference and buy a full set of allen screw. Burk's Bolts http://www.westcoastmc.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_2 have hundreds of kits, good prices and fast ship.
 
Matt,

I think most of us have had the same problem. I know that my 76 CB750K was a SOB to get torn down. I also recommend PB blaster, great stuff!

UK's Classic Bike Magazine just ran some tips on removing damaged Phillips head fasteners:

1. Take a flat punch and flatten the head of the damaged fastener. You'll push the damaged metal back into the head giving you something more to bite on.
2. With the correct sized screwdriver, give it a good whack with a hammer to reshape the head. The impact may also loosen the screw a little.
3. Now try removing the fastener again. Use an impact driver if you have one. They look like this and are fairly inexpensive.

IMG_1029.jpg


One final tip from Classic Bike....if you get all the fasteners out but one, you are actually increasing the pressure on that fastener. Go ahead and put the good ones BACK in to relieve some of the pressure, use anti-sieze, then try and remove the damaged one. Made sense to me.

Scott
 
Thanks for the advice everybody.

I will track down an impact driver and some Pb blaster, and see what I can do. I will let you know how it turn out.

If all else fails, then there is always dynamite : )
 
Alright, I am an idiot.

After trying to get the oil line screw off for 3 nights in a row, a friend stopped by and looked at it. He said "why don't you use a socket? The outside of the screw is a hex head." Well, three seconds later the screw is out.

It is the journey that makes it fun right?

But I still need the impact driver and pb blaster for the rest of screws, and I will be getting a new set of engine screws : )

Thanks for all the help.
Matt
 
In the past when I have to get a stripped phillips screw out (assuming it's not inside a hex head that I can put a rachet on) I've taken my dremel with a cut off wheel on it and turned the stripped phillips head into a big slot head and used my excessively large flat head screwdriver on. You run the risk of completely destroying the screw head and having to drill and use an extractor, but I've gotten lucky every time I've needed to do it that way.
 
drill the head of that shite screw right off, remove the casing, heat the bugger, squirt in anti squeeze..magic release etc etc make sure with heat applied it l release and wick into the threads ??? see vise grip? do have a purpose
 
msimm43 said:
Alright, I am an idiot.

After trying to get the oil line screw off for 3 nights in a row, a friend stopped by and looked at it. He said "why don't you use a socket? The outside of the screw is a hex head." Well, three seconds later the screw is out.

It is the journey that makes it fun right?

But I still need the impact driver and pb blaster for the rest of screws, and I will be getting a new set of engine screws : )

Thanks for all the help.
Matt
Click to expand...

Yep - fun times. Just don't put any of those old fasteners back on. Invest in some stainless socket-cap (allen key) bolts and some anti-seize.
 
In the past when I have to get a stripped phillips screw out (assuming it's not inside a hex head that I can put a rachet on) I've taken my dremel with a cut off wheel on it and turned the stripped phillips head into a big slot head and used my excessively large flat head screwdriver on. You run the risk of completely destroying the screw head and having to drill and use an extractor, but I've gotten lucky every time I've needed to do it that way.
Click to expand...

I tried to use my dremel to cut a slot in the head, but the frame would not let me get the cutting wheel on the screw.

I plan on ordering a new set of stainless bolts shortly. I have yet to attack the the rest of the philips heads on the engine, but I am ordering an impact driver tonight, and hopefully all will go smoothly.

Skyeye, I saw the article in Classic Bike last month. It was in the back of my mind as I was destroying the slots on the screw. They also have a write up in the same section of this months issue that talks about impact driver, slogging spanners, and center punches. I guess it is just like when I was in school. I read it, it makes sense, and when it comes to the test... I got nothing ;D
 
not sure if your in the US or not but just go to Sears and buy an impact driver, a set of screw removers, and a set of bolt removers. Use the impact driver first and only use the other two if you need to. Return them if you don't end up using them. From my experience, it's better to spend the money up front, instead of having to run to the store five times, or wait three days to get one bolt out. just my two cents.
 
You can also take your handy dremel and cut a slot for a standard flat screwdriver to fit in. This is last resort, but I found it helpful on some awfully stubborn screws. It's also good anger management when teaching that screw who's the boss. ;D

loudest143
 
Many have mentione the impact driver but none have said how to use it correctly. There is one small trick - ALWAYS compress the spring by hand before striking with a hammer. If you don't take up the slack first you risk messing things up even worse.

I also reccomend a mini sledge as compared to a regular carpenters hammer. Compress the spring and give it a GOOD SOLID whack. Works wonders.
 
zixxerboy said:
There is one small trick - ALWAYS compress the spring by hand before striking with a hammer. If you don't take up the slack first you risk messing things up even worse.
Click to expand...

Took me about 5 minutes to figure this out. Push down and twist, then hit. It got a screw out of my exhaust when all of the solvents failed.
 
I'm trying to understand the bit about pre-compressing.

I thought part of the point of the impact hammer was that as the tool is compressed, it turns on a cam to turn the screw by about 1/8 a turn or so, using the force of the hammer.

If you pre-compress / turn the tool before striking it with the hammer, where is the twisting motion coming from to loosen the screw?
 
I didn't mean, and I don't think zixxerboy meant to turn/compress it all the way. Just to take the "slack" out. On the one I use, which is admittedly quite old, the cam acts to convert the vertical impact force of the hammer into a rotational impact force. If the driver isn't tight up against the screw head, it just tears up the head even more.
 
Ahhh - yep - got it. Definitely don't want it bouncing around, and you want a strong hold on it to ensure as much of the force from the hammer is converted to rotational force on the screw, and not absorbed by your hand/wrist.
 
swan said:
Impact driver! They are one of the first thing I use when restoring an engine. I start by spaying the screws with PB Blaster and try to remove screws by hand. If the are stubborn I then use impact driver. For stubborn and broken screws you must drill out the screw head and use a screw extractor. This is tedious and time consuming and an impact driver will remove nearly anything.

Save you old screws for reference and buy a full set of allen screw. Burk's Bolts http://www.westcoastmc.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=1_2 have hundreds of kits, good prices and fast ship.
Click to expand...


Just ordered a set for my cb500k. Thanks for the heads up, i was about to head down to my local fastener store and buy em' piece by piece. Proboly saved a bundle this way.
 
Tim,

You can't take all the motion up by hand, but you save the hammer force needed to compress the spring and let it get right down to work on the twisting motion ... er so to speak. Trust me it works.
 
Just wanted to say a huge thank you for the advice on the impact driver and PB Blaster.

I sprayed the bolts this afternoon and then went down to the garage to see how the driver would work. In 5 minutes of half ass effort I had all but two bolts out. Tomorrow I plan on putting the other half of my ass into it and getting those out.

Good stuff.

Matt
 
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