Carb screws snapped off

[digitalsam]

I pulled the carbs last night and was going to clean them. However, the eight screws that hold the bottom side of the carbs to the bar that runs across them all are really tight. REALLY REALLY REALLY tight. I resorted to using vice grips to unscrew them. Got one off, fighting all the way out, but the second head snapped off!! I assume that can have it drilled out, but for the other six screws, is there anything I can do to ease the removal?

Don't really want to drill out any more screws than I have to.

I assume that I need to separate the carbs to fit them in the gallon tank I bought at Checker?

[bikerphil]

The carb bank doesn't need to be separated for a proper cleaning. Don't submerse the carbs in cleaner unless butterfly shaft seals are removed. Couple cans of Berrymans or other carb cleaner should be fine without separating. Also with separating, you'll have to deal with the peened over butterfly screws, a major PITA. As for the large Phillips screws, If you've only snapped one, I'd think it would be OK leaving it out. The others, just tighten back down if not snapped. Drill and tap would be the only way I see to fix.

[digitalsam]

Thanks, Do I need to be careful of hitting the butterflies with the spray? Or anything else for that matter?

[CatatonicBug]

The spray can damage rubber (including shoe soles - DAMHIK), so keep it away from the diaphragms. Other than that, just try not to get it in your eyes! I would suggest removing the choke rod and all the related components. Be careful though, as the tiny steel detent ball likes to fly to the furthest part of the garage in a hurry! I removed mine inside a paper grocery bag to contain the flying parts.

[fredintoon]

Pull the screws

Hi Sam,
now is the time! Remove each and every cam-out prone crosspoint screw in your carb rack and bin them.
No matter what it takes to do that. Replace them with Allen head fasteners. Future owners will bless you.
Except for the resto-purists and they can easily refit crosspoints because Allen heads undo nicely.
So they can thank you too.
Ignore those who claim that the Japanese crosspoint is NOT a Phillips head and all you need is the proper screwdriver.
All those who cammed out the screws on your bike didn't know this, right?

[Larrym]

S-c-r-e-w-e-d.

The phillips head screw and screwdriver were a revolutionary fastening system when they first came out. The main advantage of this set up was that when the assembler was turning this fastener arrangement, the screwdriver would walk/slip its way out of the crosspoint when the proper torque for the fastener was reached. How convenient for the assembly process because no torque wrench was needed! No snapped screwtops or stripped threads because no matter how hard the person went "gorilla" on it the design itself would prevent damage.

Unfortunately the design also does the same trick when going in reverse and removing the stuck fasteners can be problematic. Put down your screwdriver and leave it there on the bench for now. The proper tool to use in this situation is an impact driver: the kind that you hit with a rubber mallet while holding the body of the tool and twisting it CCW. This tool not only drives the point of the screwbit downwards into the crosspoint of the screw but also provides a "shock/twist" to rotate the screw out.

It also helps to repeatedly and lightly tap the screw tops with a ball been hammer. Heating the screwtops and the entire area can also help but I believe that these fasteners are at the tops of the carbs where the fragile carb slide diaphragms could be melted/burned. I've used a large soldering iron and used solder against the side of the screws/base of the material to heat things up. It's important to use a solder sucker to remove the solder from the area while it's still hot before trying the impact driver.

Sounds like a lot of trouble to go through but then again just one broken screw is a PITA. Whatever fasteners you go with afterwards, use anti-seize on the threads and you'll never have to deal with this situation again.

BTW if you do not "break the bank" of carbs apart and just flush the fuel inlet Tee's with cleaner then you will have exposed the fuel Tee "rubber" parts to the cleaner which would/will deteriorate them.