Alternator cover issues.
 

Ran into a little bit of an issue here. I was trying to get the center bolt out of the alternator cover so I could turn the crank and align the engine to TDC to do a CCT swap.

Unfortunately, I managed to strip out the bolt pretty severely (stupid whoever made that bolt so damn soft.)

Anyways I got my reverse bit set to pull the bolt and guess what, that stripped out too!

I called a local machine shop and I'm taking the cover in tomorrow morning to have them get the bolt out, so hopefully I'll have my CCTs in by this weekend.

Also, I almost lost a finger to the alternator magnet when it snapped back into place after i disconnected it from the cover.

Here are some pics of what I'm working with.

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/b...gShepp/001.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/b...hepp/002-1.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/b...hepp/003-1.jpg

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/b...hepp/004-1.jpg

You can see where I drilled out the center of the bolt for my reverse bits, and subsequently stripped those out.

Comments, questions, and especially advice are always welcome.

Well you're not the first to have this happen. When reassembling it, remember to use some anti-seize on the threads.

Now for getting the old one out, put the cover back on the engine, then take a chisel and work your way around until it comes loose. It's not pretty but has worked every time I've had to remove one of those bolts.

In this case they were both stuck in place......

Attachment 12463

Attachment 12464

Attachment 12465

Use a bolt and nut through the hole. Tighten securely. put in the oven, heat to @ 200 degrees F. Put on gloves. Wrench and socket the bolt and nut and try turning the plug out.

+1 This is normal procedure after not having been removed for several years.

Hey-O!!! I finally got it out. Had to make a trip to Lowe's to get a bigger reverse drill-bit and a trip down the hall to get two of my pledgebrothers to help.

We ended up wedging the cover in between a door and the doorframe with one guy and the other two wrenching on the bit with a two foot piece of PVC pipe over it.

+1 for living in a fraternity house.

Here's a pic of the drill-bit. (Now stuck in the stupid bolt.)

http://i207.photobucket.com/albums/b...gShepp/005.jpg

These plugs will seize even if you grease the threads prior to installing them. I loosen the centre plug and tighten it when I wash the bike. It's saved me some grief.
You could do it every time the moon is full or when someone wins over $30,000 on Jeopardy. It's up to you. The point is to avoid it remaining undisturbed during the months or years that pass between valve adjustments.
One of the advantages to 8541Hawk's method is that you don't end up with metal fragments inside the alternator cover.
I got the plug in my VTR out by using 8541Hawk's method after pouring boiling water over the alternator cover while holding a rag over the plug. For legal reasons, I don't recommend that you do so. You run the risk of second degree burns and perhaps cracking the alternator cover.

So I got the cover back on and all that fun stuff, but I have a new issue. I have oil leaking out from behind the cover itself. I scraped off all the old gasket and installed the new one with plenty of grease. I'm a bit nervous to tighten the bolts any more, I'd hate to break one, but I don't know what else it could be. Does anyone know the torque specs on these bolts? They're brand new as well as the gasket.

Just wanted to bump this up for reference. Going to install my MCCTs.
Honda mechanic issued me a new free center cover bolt when he strippped
mine during my last servicing. (He couldn't get it off either).:o
Will try your method, thanks 8541.:)

The aluminum plug is a known issue on many bikes.. I keep a spare for all four bikes I own that have one.

To remove a stuck one, the fastest, simplest way that works first time every time, is just a sharp chisel. Set it at about a 45deg angle (top leaning "counter clockwise"), so the outer edge of the chisel is a few mm in from the outer edge of the plug, and give the chisel a smack with a hammer to loosen the plug in the counter clock wise direction.

I've done this many dozens of times over the past 15 years on bikes that are brought to me for work.,, and a few times on my own bikes.

Oh, and m6 grade 8.8 fastener, 7 ftlb (84 inlb) is about as far as i would go... and without a GOOD inlb TQ wrench, 84 inlb is not measurable accurate.. so just hand tight with a 1/4 drive ratchet.

If it's leaking and your sure all the old gasket was off the engine and cover, new gasket is not damaged, the rubber stator wire plug is the next place i would look.

+1

Since "the beginning" (98 bought new in 99) the crank plug has been a PITA to remove. I've tried aluminum & copper based anti-seize, teflon tape, moly grease, etc to no avail. As someone else stated, "exercising" the fitment by loosening & gently tightening as each oil change helps a bit. Last valve inspection (which resulted in the super PITA replacement of 2 tight front exhaust shims but afterward resulted in amazing performance improvement), with removal being complicated due to being blocked by my 3-point point case guards the plug again refused to budge. I finally cut off a length of 10mm hex tool steel & pounded it into the now damaged hex hole & filled the gaps with "super glue". Now using a "Met-Wrench" type box wrench the plug finally came out. I replaced the o-ring and again used a combo of molly grease and aluminum anti-seize. I then coated (painted) and put a piece of shrink tubing over the hex "stub" as visible in the attached photo (2nd pic is b4 this mod).

Mahalo for the input. I am sure this will help other members/guest to deal with this
common issue. Still LOVE my superHawk!!:)

Got SNAP-ON??????