kick starter spring boss gone

[marp68]

Hmmm... I just noticed that the spring boss was missing (knocked off by PO) and that the spring hook was resting on the case wall. Has been working fine though. Browsing the forum I came across a solution for this. Drill a hole, making threads and use a bolt locked with a nut. See images.

Anyone more that have experiences this problem and have tried this solution or have come up with another one?

Also, is it possible to drill a hole with only the cover off and covering the kick starter axle hole with a rag or something? Then just clean the clutch area well from possible drill flakes?

Or will you, when drilling, drill completely through which would cause metal flakes getting into the engine?



/Martin

 

[tonyc]

Marp I drilled the case and tapped new threads but also drilled the broken piece and JB Welded it on while putting a bolt through it. Seems to hold up fine. Tony C

 

[XSLeo]

I have not had a broke spring boss. The drill, thread and bolt idea is a good one. If you have the broken off part, drilling the parts and case and using a bolt and JB Weld sounds good too.
Either way looks like a good repair.

 

[marp68]

Nope, don't have the broken off part

But what about metal flakes getting inside the engine when drilling? I will cover the kick starter hole with an old rag. But will the drilling make a hole completely through or just an isoalated hole in the material?

And will it be possible to protect the clutch, starter gear mechanism etc from metal flakes? And will it be possible ro remove any metal flakes that will undoubtly fly around when drilling, since the surfaces is covered with oil?

Just wondering if it's possible without splitting the engine and/or disassamblying everything and clean it before and after drilling/threading etc.

M

 

[marp68]

Btw,

what's the small hole located under the spring boss? Seems that something has been attached there.

 

[tonyc]

Coat the drill bit with grease and drill slowly with a new drill bit. Tony C.

 

[RedDeerXS]

I just noticed my boss is gone too. Thought about the drill/tap/bolt idea, this confirms what I have to do. Off to get my tap set now....

That said, just noticed too the the PO had drilled a hole to the left of where the boss once was, towards the case bolt there. The old spring was bent to fit into this hole.

 

[marp68]

If it worked with hole and bent spring, it was clever.

If you go ahead and drill/tap/bolt now, please let me know how it went and any valuable suggestions. I intend to wait until winter. With images if you have as well.

Good luck!

 

[Q Tip]

I did mine a few weeks ago. pad all around your case with shop rags to catch the chips.
Alternately you can set up a shop vac right at the drill to suck it all up as you drill. We do this alot at work on helicopter transmissions and such. The metal behind the boss is thick, you can stick a bent hook in there and sort of measure how thick it is by hooking on the backside. I used a 1/4-20 bolt, works fine. I used thread locker instead of the lock nut.

 

[marp68]

Okej, thanks for info.
Would it still be enough room to put a lock nut on and still be able to hook up the spring? Or would it be better to use a 25 mm long bolt, would you say?

 

[RedDeerXS]

Got mine all fixed up last night. Used a M6x1 bolt, nut and locktite.

Drilled:

Taped:

Bolted: (here you can see the hole in the cast to the left of the bolt head, that's the old fix)

Fixed:

 

[marp68]

Thanks for sharing. Looks good. Well done!

On mine the PO had bent the spring a bit outwards and hooked it on the horisontal part of the wall. That's the horiontal part just to the left of the tip of the spring in your image. It works okej, but I thought I might do it properly.

 

[Mikeoplata]

did this to my bike as well, I've heard a couple guys say to use grease on the drill bit to cut down on shavings, I used a shop vac and held it next to the hole while I was drilling, worked great