Help with stock special exhaust removal! 78-83

[jonasblack]

I am trying to take my headerpipes and mufflers off of both sides of my 81 special to detail the chrome...

Where do I begin, and what is the proper process? I am sure I could fuck something up royally if I am not informed on exhaust removal.

 

[figure8]

If I recall right theres not a lot to it. Loosen the nuts that hold the flanges to the engine and remove the nut holding the little support near the middle of the muffler. The pipes are attached to one another so once all hardware is removed gently pull them out from under the frame.

 

[gggGary]

And the bolts that hold the rear of the head pipes to the frame under the foot peg.

See removal process and pics below.
The crossover tube is two pieces held together with a clamp band and gasket, one side slides into the other. Since it's low and unseen it's often fragile from rust and rot. I have to remove a set myself, maybe tonight yet with pics....

PS there are exhaust crush gaskets, they stay stuck inside the head once the pipe is off. Trust me they ARE in there

 

[gggGary]

OK done. pics and description.
Not how I did it, but my suggestion is.
Hit all the mounting points and especially the crossover joint with rust buster. Loosen each nut and bolt a bit, hit em with rust buster again.
Remove all the brackets for the LEFT side, slide the flange collar away from the head. Leave the RH side exhaust completely attached bolts snug.
Remove the allen bolt from the crossover clamp band. now attempt to wiggle and free the left pipe. If needed use a long chunk of 2X and a few well placed blows with the Biggest hammer you have. They don't need to be huge whacks just solid blows. The idea is to separate the asbestos gasket from the inner pipe, see if you can now wiggle and separate the crossover, repeat as necessary now unbolt the RH side and remove.





This is a nice set of pipes for the midwest, bike had 5K miles, was kept in a garage, almost no moisture. But no title either! Bike was down lightly but with some blue compound on cotton buffing wheels they should look rather nice on my 82 HS

 

[joebgd]

PS there are exhaust crush gaskets, they stay stuck inside the head once the pipe is off. Trust me they ARE in there

Are they supposed to stay in there when installing the same exhaust back or a different exhaust system?

 

[gggGary]

Since I already had both pipes off I used some wood blocking to hold the RH pipe while I "loosened" the crossover.



Those two bolts holding the muffler to rear bracket need to come loose at least, but they can be an SOB to loosen. The nut holding the muffler bracket to the frame needs to be removed also. The end of the wood "driver" should be placed against the reinforced part of the muffler where those two bolts were

 

[gggGary]

I will usually just leave the gaskets in, they seem to work fine a second or third time, but they aren't that expensive either, still available from Yamaha and others.

 

[fredintoon]

Hi Jonas,
here's what I did:-
Slathered everything with penetrating oil and let it sit & soak a while.
Removed every fastener from one side plus the bolt through the joiner clamp and spread the joiner clamp so it hung loose.
Made myself an extractor jack from a length of steel tube and a length of ready rod, both with little curved plates welded on one end that fit against the mufflers.
Put the jack between the mufflers and expanded the jack with a nut & washer to force the mufflers apart.
You will need to replace the exhaust pipe washers in the head and the crush sleeve between the mufflers, they only work once.

 

[racerdave]

Gary, a question that might help others. If you have enough helpers to hold bike/exhaust, can the exhaust be dropped without taking the crossover apart? I used to do that on some of my Kawi's with a crossover. Can save you the time/expense of gaskets.

 

[gggGary]

Well yes and no. since the exhausts go into the head at an angle the pipes need to be spread at least a bit to get them free of the head and spread even more to clear the front frame down tubes and front engine mount. The crossover is behind the center stand. Maybe if the center stand was off and you had a big friend to lift the rear of the bike to get the pipes out the back under the tire. The side stand gets in the way too, but could be removed. All in all separating the crossover is simplest, but on many pipes the tubes collapse where rust has thinned them before the joint comes apart.

Rusty bolts 101; any time a bolt becomes harder to turn as it's backed out, STOP, run the bolt in a turn or two, apply more rust buster, loosen again, repeat as needed til it's all the way off. The bolt getting hard to turn is metal peeling and galling from rust getting jammed in the threads. tightening it smooths the threads some.

 

[jonasblack]

so would it be possible to take the headers and mufflers off as one unit?

If I do it this way, do I have to replace any gaskets then?

also, my crossover seems to be in pretty bad shape, if for some reason it were to break would it be detrimental to the remounting of the exhaust?

 

[jonasblack]

By the way, you guys rock!

 

[fredintoon]

so would it be possible to take the headers and mufflers off as one unit?
If I do it this way, do I have to replace any gaskets then?
also, my crossover seems to be in pretty bad shape, if for some reason it were to break would it be detrimental to the remounting of the exhaust?

Hi Jonas,
perhaps it's possible but it's far less hassle to take the exhausts off one side at a time.
You need to replace the crush washers between the pipes and the cylinder head anyway
and I suspect that horsing a complete system off the bike as a unit would indeed wreck up the crosspipe if it's "in pretty bad shape".
Thing is, the crosspipe is pretty much hidden from view so if it gets wrecked it can be rebuilt with the help of your local "Bro with Oxy-Acetylene welder" using parts available at any muffler shop and the new bits fizzed over with BBQ paint.

 

[nj1639]

On the few that I've yanked, it's the crossover that's the bear. Like stated, penetrating oil and a well placed blow with a two by from the opposite side after all are loosened will get it done.

Going with the PamcoPete after market muffler adapter and a set of your choice mufflers eliminates the cross over but keeps the Special headers........something to consider.....

 

[fredintoon]

- - - Going with the PamcoPete after market muffler adapter - - -

Hi nj,
got a link to that adapter? All I can find on the net is Pamco's ignition parts.

 

[weekendrider]

If the crossover is too far gone it can be cut out and freeze plugs welded in.
Easier than trying to rebuild the crossover.

 

[nj1639]

Here ya go Fred......post #19 in this thread.......

http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=276&highlight=pamcopete+exhaust+adapter

 

[fredintoon]

Hi nj,
OK, yeah, the adapter that Pete sez to use that you can get at the local muffler shop.
I thought from that post that Pete was selling them.

 

[nj1639]

Yeah Fred....could have thrown the word 'mod' in there.

 

[jonasblack]

I did the job today! Getting the pipes off was not the issue. I followed Gary's instructions to a T and the cross bar came apart rather easily. The biggest pain in the ass was realigning the pipes in order for the crossbar to slip into itself again.

Job is done, chrome is polished, and the bike is cleaned as well.

Ill enclose two pictures, one is of one of the mufflers pre and after coca cola and aluminum foil.

the other is just of my xs in all her glory!

7k miles, 1981 XS650 Special.

Thank you for all your input!