Topic: Oh $#!& Broke Cam Cover Bolt...

[Dave-and-his-550]

 



I think I'm going to ignore it and continue with the rebuild lol...

[jeepurz]

welp , I did it twice! so im twice as unlucky. same dam bolt!

[Dave-and-his-550]

Can't imagine I'll have any leaking oil issues considering all the other bolts holding it down huh?

[jeepurz]

dunno how your luck runs , but If I left it broken it would lead to catastrophic frame failure.

[mkramer1121]

1) buy torque wrench
2)drill hole in center of bolt
3)easy out it
4)run tap thru to clean buggered threads
5)install new bolt by hand making sure not to cross thread
6) tighten to proper torque spec

[Dave-and-his-550]

but If I left it broken it would lead to catastrophic frame failure.

lol wut?

At any rate, its to late now (not really) but I already torqued everything and the engine is completely back together. I think my desire to ride the bike before winter is drastically fogging my judgment. I should probably pull it out and get another bolt in there but, like I said...(I wanna ride!)

[DammitDan]

Cutting corners only means you have to rebuild it sooner.  And usually with more effort due to damage which could (should) have been avoided.

I have a strong suspicion that leaving that bolt like that will result in a leaky gasket.  Sure there's "a lot of other bolts" holding it down, but each bolt has its own "area" of the gasket to torque down.  Leaving out a bolt will leave an entire area loose and asking for a leak.

I used to take shortcuts to get the bike back on the road ASAP.  Now after a lot of money spent in needlessly replaced gaskets and burned up time, I can say I don't take shortcuts anymore cause it's only gonna cause more pain down the road  

Besides, is that a hole knocked in your rocker cover next to the cam chain?

[jeepurz]

mine was torque'd and broke before it was on the mark, both times, I did get lucky there was a nice tit stickin out to grab ahold of.

[Dave-and-his-550]

Besides, is that a hole knocked in your rocker cover next to the cam chain?

From what I remember it is on both sides. Maybe its for the breather/bypass valve?

I did buy one of those easy-outs awhile ago just in case. I guess maybe thats a sign...

[Dave-and-his-550]

Quick update: I removed the cam cover and sure enough there was just the right length of bolt left for me to grab it with a vice grips and it easily twisted out.

[1976CB550F]

The earlier 500 and 550's didn't have those bolts. They really don't do anything, if you couldn't have removed it, I wouldn't have worried about it.