Removal of butterflies

[KA1J]

I removed the butterflies from the carb yesterday. I was warned a dremel would cause damage if the bit hit the wall or the butterfly. So what I did was release the spring on the carbs, use that blue painters tape. I edged it to the side of the throttle shaft and pressed it to the walls of the carb. I did this several times to make a thick tape barrier. I covered the butterfly the same way and used a long carbide tip on the dremel, one that had a rounded head & looked sort of like a drill bit.

It knocked the backside of the screws off in short order and the screws came out without damaging anything. I ordered a replacement set of screws and should be good to go.

Not sure though what kind of locktite to put on the throttle shaft screws though.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Ka1j,

Your replacement screws should be the kind that can be peened to secure them like the OEM screws. I don't know if I'd trust locktite alone to keep them from vibrating loose, and getting sucked into the engine!?
That being said, the RED version is for STUDS and provides the strongest adhesion.

T.C.

[crazy steve]

I've had great luck with blue locktite (remember, I also own a couple of Harleys ) but wouldn't recommend using red. Red will 'lock' it extremely well, but on smaller screws/bolts you can end up twisting the heads off them the next time you go to remove them... DAMHIKIJK

[KA1J]

Hey Ka1j,

Your replacement screws should be the kind that can be peened to secure them like the OEM screws. I don't know if I'd trust locktite alone to keep them from vibrating loose, and getting sucked into the engine!?
That being said, the RED version is for STUDS and provides the strongest adhesion.

T.C.

I got them from Len & they are the oval type that are used with #1 or #2 JIS "phillips" screwdrivers. I have no idea how you would peen them over without doing damage.

[mack]

locktite

I use blue on all mine.

[CaptonZap]

For those of you who are worried about using Loc-Tite on the butterfly screws, let me put your mind at rest.
Every thread lock material gets soft when it gets hot. How hot, you ask?
That depends on what you have, but all of the ones I have dealt with get soft at or below the vaporizing temperature of oil.
So here is the old bodgers trick. Get a butane pencil burner, (on sale at your local Habba Fl8t store for a limited time only, /http://www.harborfreight.com/micro-torch-42099.html), dab a drop of oil on the screw, heat it with the torch, and the screw will come out. Heat it till the oil starts smoking. Oil vaporizes at around 450 deg F, which is a temperature that is one of the lowest used to temper hardened steel, which means that you will not screw up the temper of steel that has been hardened.
Now, if you are using the old beat up Phillips driver that your kids/ next door neighbor borrows, you might have trouble. But if you use a well fitted driver, back the shaft up with some support, and apply good pressure so that the driver doesn't cam out of the slots, you can get the screws out. You may have to heat the tip of the screw driver up before insertion, so as to not rob heat from the screw/glue joint. Use the oil smoke trick again. And it may take two applications of heat, but they will loosen up enough to remove them.
This trick works with epoxy/polyester resins as well, so that kludged up tank can start out it's restoration with a bare skin. (It will take a larger torch, probably)
That said, staking is a more preferred method, but should be done with an eye towards future removal attempts. (Translation; Don't screw it up for the next guy.)

CZ