Exhaust port tricks

[Fast Ed 53]

Any ideas on a good way to keeping the pipes on with out the weld on solution? Ed

[57stroker]

What do you mean by "weld on solution"?

[Fast Ed 53]

I was talking about welding shovel or std exhaust flanges on the heads.I know theres not many more options but thought I'd ask. Ed

[57stroker]

My exhaust spigots were pretty far gone. I got the pipes to stay on by cleaning the pipes and spigots with emery cloth and using high temp silliy-cone. The older bikers told me the problem with doing that is after the spigots get so thin, you run a chance of them just breaking off. (And probably not when the bike is sitting in front of your house!) The last time I had my heads off, I machined some new spigots and had a good welder weld them on. Many of the engine shops mentioned on this forum can do the same, probably better a lot than I did.

[Fast Ed 53]

57stroker, Were on the same page,my ports are still in good shape and I was thinking hi temp silicone or mixing up some liquoid steel putting on a coat then slip on the pipes and clamp. I've been to dragonmans. com site to look at his prices (not bad) just thought I could get a couple yrs. out of them first. Thanks for the insight , Ed

[suicideshovel65]

Seen a few cautions about that outfit on another site...have never used him myself so can't comment either way, but caveat emptor.

[Fast Ed 53]

His web site is a little arrogant,felt like I was bothering him just being there!! Ed

[panomania]

i have had bad luck with dragonman. and yes he has a bad attitude. just my opinion. i had intake ports welded on a set of heads and it only cost me 20 bucks. search dragonman on the net and you will find plenty-o bad luck stories. good luck

[dirtpandan58]

FastEd,
I had a problem with my front pipe coming loose so I made a hanger out of an piece of angle strap and an exhaust pipe clamp.
I don't use my generator strap so I used the hole that it bolts to to mount the piece of angle strap. Then put the clamp on the pipe and bolted it to the angle strap. then snugged up the bolt that goes through gen. stap hole.
You don't really notice it but when you do it looks pretty clean.
With the hanger where it is it pulls the pipe up directly on to the exhaust spiggot. I've had that set up for about two years now with no problems.
I also put high temp silicone on the spiggot and don't have any leaks.

Dirt

[Fast Ed 53]

Dirt, Thanks for the idea,I'm going to try somthing like this. Ed

[52Chopper]

Ports and beyond... Good tips above, I personally shim with a recently finished Miller can. I'm putting new pipes on and in the past I have painted the insides with high-temp paint or used Kreem Blue Shield, both with mixed results. Any other tips to help minimize discoloration? Other then tuning it right!

[suicideshovel65]

You know, I've never minded blueing on pipes or discoloration - especially on titanium or stainless. Titanium looks amazing on dukes and Japanese sportsbikes, where the blueing is really radiantly colored and actually used as part of the aesthetic of the thing.
I used to really like the colour on the pipes of my shovel!

Cheers,

S.

[Fast Ed 53]

52chop, Sounds like a great idea.I picked up some copper shim stock at work today,I'm going to try making a 1/2" wide ring that I can slip up on the on the port to take some of the play out of the pipe. the blue never bothered me.

[2dogs]

My rear cylinder exhaust spigot is somewhat eaten up too but there's enough there to hang the header on. It does need shimming which I will do with a 3/4" wide strip of .016 aluminum sheet.
But what about the silicone? It sounds like a good idea to run a bead of it around the shim and/or spigot before fitting the header up. All I could find for high temperature was some Permatex stuff called "Ultra Copper High Temp RTV Silicone" good to +700F intermittent. Is that the right stuff? It comes in a copper colored tube and is in fact copper colored but I'd hate to use it if it actually contains some copper because copper and aluminum don't go together in a healthy manner...they react electrically and the copper eats the aluminum.
Would appreciate if someone could let me know if I have the right hi-temp silicone you guys are talking about. Thanks.

[Fast Ed 53]

2dogs, I'm not sure that the 700 degree silicone would do you much good. I'm in the process of fitting mine right now, I've made copper shim rings and have a pretty snug fit so i'm going to try it like that. Good Luck, Ed