[sbrogden]

I am trying to remove the head from the rear cylinder on a VT500C. Everything is taken off that needs to be. Upon "banging" on the head with a rubber mallet, the whole stinking cylinder is loose! But the head is securely attached to the cylinder base.

Any sage advise for separating the head from the cylinder base?

 

[sbrogden]

Done!

Turns out Clymer failed to point out one bolt that needed to come out: down in the head, near the cam chain sprocket. Amazing what one small bolt will do.

Head gasket has a piece missing - valves look new. Top of piston is in good shape.

 

[MarkC]

Re: Done!

Turns out Clymer failed to point out one bolt that needed to come out: down in the head, near the cam chain sprocket. Amazing what one small bolt will do.

Head gasket has a piece missing - valves look new. Top of piston is in good shape.

Well its a good thing you found that bolt before you started prying :shock:
MarkC

 

[sbrogden]

You ain't kiddin'! Whew! Head gasket should be here this week. Need to check the head for warping. Wondering what caused the head gasket to blow a wad.

The bike has less than 25k miles on it, but has not been taken good care of. It's in overall good shape, but none of the maintenance connections showed any hint of having been loosened.

 

[sbrogden]

Cylinder wall damage

Looks like bad news :-( The cylinder wall (the thin tube between the piston and water jacket) has a dent right on the top of it, right where the head gasket had blown out a piece.

This don't look normal. And it don't look like that wall is a replaceable part.

Any feedback on that assumption?

 

[Richard L]

I took this from the manuals discussion earlier . Have you seen it?
http://downloads.hondatech.info/Moto/VT500C_1983_67MF500.pdf

 

[Richard L]

I just opened the link I posted and it is very strange in that all the pages with pictures are in English. The others are German.

 

[sbrogden]

Thanks for the link. I comprehend about 4 words of German I've saved the file and think the pictures will be of help. A good friend who is a welder thinks we can fix thi damage. The top edge of the outer sleeve (next to the water jacket space) is dented in and down. The inner sleeve (next to the piston), against which the metal rim of the head gasket seals, is free from damage.

 

[sbrogden]

New cylinder and head gaskets, new wave washer for the exhaust valve. Manually cranked it and measured about 30 PSI on front (known good) and rear cylinders.

Next step - put the engine back in the frame and hook everything up. I'll ley ya'll know how it goes.