Freeing frozen exhaust rose nut. 1948 Es2

I do sympathise having tried in vain to remove the plugs from a 350 Triumph head which seems to have been stored in a compost heap for the last 30 years or so. In my opinion Plusgas is a better freeing agent than WD40.

And more heat. Try tightening and then loosening. Repeatedly.

I always get my engine to working temperature to tighten it up and it never seems to come loose. Just wondered if you've tried getting the bike up to working temperature then trying to undo the Rose with an extension for good leverage on the spanner or gently tapping the spanner with a hammer to try and loosen any corrosion holding it in place. 

WD40 in NOT a true penetrating fluid, better to use a penetrating fluid like Plusgas , as Ian says. The name WD stands for water dispersant which is NOT the same thing.

Although it does have some penetrating qualities it was developed for the space industry as a water dispersant the '40' being the 40th formulation developed.

Many years ago we used to spray it into the intakes of the Spey engines of the Nimrods to try and combat the corrosion caused by salt water ingested by flying low over the sea. But beware that after repeated application on hot surfaces over time it forms a sticky goo that can gum up where there are small clearances.

Back to the Rose problem, a combination of all the above ideas, plus care, should work.

Hope this helps,

Stan

Undo the silencer mount and remove the silencer.you can then move the pipe around which will help break the seal.

Doug,

An old fitter once removed two bits of exhaust pipe for me.

Basically he heated the item to black heat with an LPG blow torch, then put a water soaked rag on the internal pipe. In your case the rose. AND HE KEPT POURING WATER ONTO THE RAG until it the item got cold. And then repeated the process again.

I've used this process a few times and it works quite well.

Don Anson

Melbourne 

If all else fails and you intend to replace pipe and nut then you could  angle grind or hacksaw thro the pipe close to the nut and then part cut thro the nut on the inside to weaken it . A trickey job. I would also try  getting the engine hot or placing the head in a hot oven for half an hour and then pouring iced water over the nut while  heaving on your tool. 

Is this Still in the bike or r on a bench?  All the above recommendations work it depends how much force you can get on the joint.  The heat and chill method makes logical sense as long as you get the right elements hot:cold. I trust you have appropriate spanner  to engage onto the rose.  If it’s the standard flat steel C spanner extend the handle with something like a piece of scaffold tube.  Heat the cylinder head by running the motor if possible or open flame localised to the joint, chill the rose( plumbers freeze spray and wet cloth) get the lever on and shock it, on then off.  You may need support to hold the machine in place. 

If the motor is not in the frame get the head off  with the exhaust, clamp the head or bolt it down to an immovable object and carry out as above.   Depends on how precious either part is  there are other methods, let’s get past stage one and see what transpires….

if you think you need extra hand, send out your location, someone may  be nearby to help

J

Hi Doug,

   All good advice above, but what I have found to be a good tool to undo the exhaust ring is a 2 leg sprocket extractor. The type you need is with the long legs held by pins in the fixed section with the usual centre bolt. This needs to be a suitable size to fit the hook ends in the gaps between the fin gaps around the outside. You might need to file the hooks to be a good fit. Set them at 180 degrees to each other and  tighten the centre bolt as much as possible with-out doing any damage. Get a suitable steel tube to go over the hexagon centre bolt, the tube can a couple of feet long, but you will need to protect the threads on the centre bolt and it could bend the bolt slightly. Run the engine or use a heat gun on the head and then give the tube a quick shove to crack the corrosion. The advantage of this is that the ring is gripped at 3 points and you have the leverage.

I can't see how that would work. What does the central bolt bear on?

Hi Ian/Doug,

   Sorry, I didn't explain that very well. I should have just said that I use the sprocket puller like you would a "C" spanner. This has a better contact and more even force on the fins to spread the pressure. I have attached a couple of photos, the puller in these is a combination 2 or 3 leg type, so ignore the 2 legs not in use. A long tube can be used on the centre bolt for leverage, but you need 2 half round aluminium sleeves (not shown) to protect the centre bolt threads.

.. As it happens I've been struggling to get the plugs out of a Triumph 350 head which I'm using for a Grumph. Despite soaking in plus gas for days, heat, much force and excessive bad language they would not move.

Eventually, yesterday I took the head to a local engineering place who specialise in classic vehicle works. Simon, the proprietor has just rung me to say he's done the job. The cost including a helicoil for one thread which came out with the plug? £30. I would have paid more.....

Nametab Engineering

Unit 7, Walkers Road,

Redditch, Worcestershire, B98 9HE

+44 1527 60395

Hi Doug,

   That's goood news, it would be a shame to have to use drastic measures. It might be worth putting some copper grease on the threads when you re-assemble.