Struggling with stripped head bolt removal

Hey every one,
I decided to tackle this job alone and am beginning to feel over my head. I got halfway through and have completely stripped a head bolt. How do I get it out? Thanks.

 

Weld a nut on top o bolt head. Put a washer between

 

Just a question. Was absolutely necessary to pull the can shaft of?, couldn't you take the head assy all together?

 

It was necessary to take the cams off because the head bolts are underneath the shafts. There’s no way to access the bolts unless the cams are off. Excuse the bad writing, I didn’t have a capo

 

Also I figured it out, it can be extracted like any other seized fastener. Thanks!

 

Keep posting.

Sub.

 

To avoid even a more drastic problem PLEASE stuff some old rags into the air intake holes when you are putting it back together or you have to take the heads back off if you drop anything into the air intake holes, also that could happen without you noticing it and then the engine will be toast when you try starting it.

 

Seriously, listen to this man.

You need to take a shop vac to that intake valley and suck up all that dirt in there before doing anything else. You are playing with fire while trying to put it out at the same time by leaving that dirt there and not having rags in the intake ports. Yes, you are doing head gaskets and the heads are coming off, it shouldn't matter but it does. Do the job right, cleanliness is key to a successful job here. Be sure to inspect and vacuum out each cylinder before putting the heads back on too. You don't want dirt in the cylinders or caught in any of those intake ports.

 

Alright, when I get the heads off I’ll do a thorough cleaning and tape them over until I get the lower intake back on. Thanks for the tips, it’s my first time doing this and I’ve had to buy about a grand of components, parts, and tools to get to this point. I would not want it to fail.

 

First time is always more expensive than expected. But you will be better prepared, have the tools, or most of them that you need, for if you need to do something like this again in the future. Keeping everything as clean as possible is the biggest thing to remember whenever the valve covers come off or the motor is opened in any way.

 

Okay another question, how do I clean the heads without messing with the mating surfaces? Is there a way to do so?
jax

 

You're talking about the head surface, where the gasket goes and faces the block?

DON'T use a wire wheel, that will destroy the mating surface. Also DON'T use scotch brite of any kind and DON'T use power tools of any kind.

Best bet is to clean with brake cleaner or something like Simple Green as much as possible. If it's Simple Green, use an old tooth brush as well for some scrubbing action. For anything stuck on, you can carefully use a razor blade to scrape old gasket material off. Just don't press so hard that you start shaving aluminum from the heads. If you need something with a little more scrubbing power, use a copper brush and just be careful not to press too hard. Very light scrubbing should be all that's needed.

 

Use the same care when cleaning the mating surface of the block as well.

Also any other aluminum or plastic mating surfaces!!

 

I'm pictures thirsty!!

 

Evening y’all,
Today was the first day I could work on it as I recently ran out of $ for the project and needed to wait til payday. That being said, I’ve secured the tools I needed to take off the heads. Lo and behold, here it is. Tape was strewn over the intake ovules before beginning todays work.

Now, it’s very shade tree and I’m aware of that. But this job was undertaken as a matter of survival due to the inability to attain another mode of transportation besides my 50cc scooter.

I stripped two bolts on the job to this point. One on the drivers side exhaust downpipe, and a head bolt. The tap holes can be seen in the photo before I pulled the heads.

 

It is used for off-roading often and I don’t know any in depth method of engine cleaning. But I’m sure it’s approachable, especially considering the possibility of success in this job.

 

ok

 

How are things going so far?

 

So I’m getting the cams back on, but to put them on the way I took them off, the bolts aren’t biting. To put it on to where it’s seated flush looks nothing like their orientation in photos I took before I took them off. Do I just force them down? The timing marks are in the correct place and everything, I just don’t know how to get them on there the way I took them off.

 

I would not force anything. I would take the head off again, see if something is missed placed ex head gasket on the wrong side, dirt in the bolt bore, etc.

https://youtu.be/pIbeoMpGxEc

 

Any updates?

 

Hey Joe, did you sort this out?

 

The OP, @J4X2380 hasn't been on the forums since 7/1/23 unfortunately. Hopefully he pops back sometime and updates.