Just for a laugh, I thought I’d pull the carbs cos I’m at that stage of the ‘rebuild’… first warning was only 5 screws/bolts holding the airbox… then I removed the airbox… and decided it was time for a coffee… nuff said… the monkeys have been here…
Those broken screws are gonna be fun. May i suggest a soak in penetrating oil - 50/50 ATF and Acetone. Followed by gentle heat and the application of a small left-hand drill. Yes, they are available. With luck and a following wind they should come out.
I think its wadding or similar stuffed in with the screws because the threads are stripped… that’ll work… not! So my helicoil skills will be tested methinks. I was so pissed off I just bailed and went for a coffee instead… will update tomorrow.
Here is a cheap set. https://www.aliexpress.com/item/328...sea!AU!1500073158!&curPageLogUid=Ey8Wvg5b5i03 The way to use them best is to drill a small 2mm hole then using a say 5mm drill to ''bite'' into the hole and grab the broken bit and wind it out. Good luck.
Thanks Murdo - yup, the screws are snapped off in the carbs. The only good news is that it’s only 4 of them. Will need to take a couple of brave pills before I attempt to remove them. Wish me luck.
So, I did what was advised by Murdo and GregT. Bought left handed drill bits, soaked the screws for days. You guys rock! All 4 broken screws came out easily!!! I honestly couldn’t believe it. The worst part was centre punching the broken screws. None of the hole threads are damaged so we are good to go. Thank you so much for the advice and encouragement.
Gotta be pleased with that I bet you've got a huge sense of satisfaction and relief 100% success rate
So relieved!!! Was not looking forward to the potential nightmare… but - get good advice, get the right tools, take a brave pill, insert some patience and you’ve got a fighting chance of success. Next mission is replace the fork seals but that’s easy in comparison!
When replacing the front wheel and retorquing the 2 pinch bolts , be very careful if theres evidence of scrapes or "damage" to the bottom of the fork .... or if they have been over tightened in the past You will see here in my thread what happened with mine ..... and when searching for a replacement I found a few sets for sale that were "cracked" there as well https://2fiftycc.com/index.php?thre...odel-stealth-edition.1949/page-24#post-145286
O Oh Crap! Will check them out tomorrow… knowing my luck they’ll be donald ducked! Thanks for the heads up
Also on "twin" pinch bolts I tighten them in "increments" to share the load .... and when u have the second to the set torque , you should go back and check the first one again as it will probably have changed. When I do the old bikes I usually drop back the recommended torque settings a few Nm .... but thats just me
Thankfully, the forks look ok - maybe the Kawasaki gods are finally smiling on me for saving this poor basketcase
Did the same thing today, picked up another ZXR250 yesterday for something to do and found that some of the air box screws were missing. Managed to remove all the broken bolts except the one that they had tried to remove themselves and mucked it up. Bike is running beautifully.
That was a before shot. Since then broken screws were removed, engine cleaned, some hoses replaced and gaskets made good. Pays to always have spare gaskets, o-rings, hoses and carby kits lying around.
Sorry I only took this photo to as a reference for re assembly, not to show the Carburettors. I tend to take pics every now and then to help if I get stuck when putting the bikes back together. But I did pinch the idea of the left hand drill bits off this post. It was very informative. I do have easy outs but usually use normal drill bits. You learn something every day.
