Maybe you could drip a few drops of coolant down the holes but on the outside of the pipes , then try to wiggle them around to lubricate the O-rings. Great giggly wiggly was that bike in a lake?

 

Waggle the tube's side to side while spraying half a can of WD40 down on to the O ring's.
Go have a brew and a Bacon barm, then do the same again with the other half a can of WD.
Then try pulling them.

 

I might be a little concerned about pulling them out and having ounces of wd40 in the cooling system.

 

If you are willing to possibly replace the pipes you could clamp a pair of vise grips on the pipe and tap it from underneath with a hammer. You might have to angle the vise grip to get enough working area.

 

I'm down the pub at the moment, having a few beers in the hope it will help the survival prospects of the previous owner..

I will try the coolant idea tomorrow evening, but it looks like there is a lot of glue or sealant down there too, so I'd still need to clear all that before replacing the new o-rings.

Thanks for the suggestions, I will roport back once I've tried again.

Cheers all.

 

By the way, it may as well have been in a lake, that's just 20+ years of English weather for you..

 

Waggle the tube's side to side while spraying half a can of WD40 down on to the O ring's.
Go have a brew and a Bacon barm, then do the same again with the other half a can of WD.
Then try pulling them.

this ^
Just be sure to rinse the cooling system with bottled water for drinking after work, before putting antifreeze (please do not use tap water). Once the system is clean, you can put antifreeze without worrying.

 

Instructions for removing coolant pipes.

1. Twist pipes round so lugs are clear of fixing.
2. Gently tap them in with a piece of wood and hammer.
3. Spray with with 3in1 or similar.
4. Pull up - remove with a pair thin nose pliers.
5. If unsuccessful first, rinse and repeat.

Should you choose to follow these instructions....they should come out with ease.

Charge for this advise, a pint. ;D

Cheers

 

You could always pull the engine to get at them easier, with more clearance, allowing a multitude of tools and clamps and such to get around them.

By the time you struggle doing it the way you are, you could have the engine out in 1 hour. And by the looks of That engine maybe you should so it can get properly cleaned.

 

I wasn't going to start on this engine until weekend but,

OK, HOW TO REMOVE COOLANT PIPES

1st,
put any and all, pliers/clamps/hammers/stilsons etc, BACK in the tool box......use any form of metal implement to remove the pipes and your asking for trouble.
2nd,
get some strong small diameter nylon rope, a length of wood about 2ft long....in my case I use a 1inch dowel.
Now if you haven't got one invest in a RUBBER mallet.
After pre soaking the bottom of the tube with WD40...or any other type of "easit" oil,

firstly remove the bolt from the tube bracket...pic1
Then loop the nylon cord around the tube...pic2/3


insert your piece of wood so that it sits on the timing chain cover and tie a knot in the cord so that the wood is angled down by around 20 to 30 degree's...pic4

now apply upward pressure pulling the coolant tube upwards...if the bugger is stiff, tap it GENTLY with the rubber mallet, and out it will pop....pic4

 

What a great method to apply constant pressure on a fitting. Thank you Jonh!

John Z.

 

Is there any danger of bending the timing chain cover doing that?

 

I did that using a longer length of bale wire, levering against the frame in stead of the cover.

 

That's a neat solution with the rope and piece of wood, but I doubt very much it would have worked with mine, something else would have given before the tubes I reckon.

I finally managed to remove them last night, but the only way I could manage it was with the aid of a pair of mole grips and WD40 and WD40 specialist silicone grease spray.

The right hand one was by far the worse, and at the start I couldn't get any movement at all. I clamped the mole grips to the edges of the retaining tab and had to put so much torque into twisting it I could barely hold it. My hands (which are not small or weak by any stretch of the imagination) were slipping on the mole grips rather than the tube turning in the bore. It has slightly twisted and deformed the tube near where the o-ring goes. More expense.

The left one was easier (thankfully, as it's the UK one with the carb anti ice feed on it, so looks harder to source) and came out a lot easier.. not easy, but easier.

As I suspected , one of the previous owners had indeed used a sealant, and not just any sealant, it looks likely it was an acid cure silicone sealant (some of you will know what that means I'm sure). Due to the corrsion this causes in metals, it basically fused the tubes into the cylinder head. I have no idea how to clean the bores, they are a mess. I just hope it's not a removal of the head or a new head.

I'll try and sort some pictures out..

 

Oh, on a plus note though, after I removed the tubes I gave the cam cover a few gentle taps with a rubber mallet and it freed up no problem. And both the dowels were still in the head. Also the internals look really very good.. so every cloud etc.

 

That's a neat solution with the rope and piece of wood, but I doubt very much it would have worked with mine, something else would have given before the tubes I reckon.

I finally managed to remove them last night, but the only way I could manage it was with the aid of a pair of mole grips and WD40 and WD40 specialist silicone grease spray.

The right hand one was by far the worse, and at the start I couldn't get any movement at all. I clamped the mole grips to the edges of the retaining tab and had to put so much torque into twisting it I could barely hold it. My hands (which are not small or weak by any stretch of the imagination) were slipping on the mole grips rather than the tube turning in the bore. It has slightly twisted and deformed the tube near where the o-ring goes. More expense.

The left one was easier (thankfully, as it's the UK one with the carb anti ice feed on it, so looks harder to source) and came out a lot easier.. not easy, but easier.

As I suspected , one of the previous owners had indeed used a sealant, and not just any sealant, it looks likely it was an acid cure silicone sealant (some of you will know what that means I'm sure). Due to the corrsion this causes in metals, it basically fused the tubes into the cylinder head. I have no idea how to clean the bores, they are a mess. I just hope it's not a removal of the head or a new head.

I'll try and sort some pictures out..

Clean the bore's with a dremmel and brass wire brush. Make sure you use the correct O ring's on re-assembly....not some that Joe Blogg's say's fit as Kawai used an odd ball size/thickness. Also, use plenty of grease on re-build, both on the tube/O ring and place a finger full inside the bores,

 

Clean the bore's with a dremmel and brass wire brush. Make sure you use the correct O ring's on re-assembly....not some that Joe Blogg's say's fit as Kawai used an odd ball size/thickness. Also, use plenty of grease on re-build, both on the tube/O ring and place a finger full inside the bores,

I ended up using a green scourer pad sprayed with WD40, rolled it up and screwed it into the bores quite tight. then span them round for several turns, removed the scourer pad, sprayed it with WD40 and kept repeating until they were much better.

I replaced the o-rings, greased everything up and refitted the tubes (needed a bit of gentle persuasion from my rubber mallet, but went in. I have since put the freshly cleaned/rebuilt carbs back on and the rest of the bike back together, filled with water to flush the system and started the bike up. IT ACTUALLY STARTED.. AND SOUNDS GOOD!

I haven't set up the carbs yet, or run it to full temperature as it was getting late in the evening and there are small children living nearby, but I'll continue tomorrow. So far there appears to be no leak, but once it's up to operating temperature I suppose I'll know for sure. All being well, I can then drain the water and put proper coolant in and it will be closing in on a finished project.

Cheers!

 

As long as they are clean and not leaking then,er, "job's a good'un",

Started on my engine today...typical 1st gen, blown flywheel, .....electrex to the rescue,

 

I haven't looked at my flywheel yet to see if it's original or replacement (I suspect it'll original as CCT was Gen 1, I doubt any of the Gen 1 issues have been corrected on this bike). I'll plan to do that shortly..