Hi. I'm a Swedish guy, just bought my first Harley, a Sportster 883 1992. I was going to inspect the primary chain and the clutch. On the '92 model, there's an inspection hole for the primary and one for the clutch. Now, i can't get the inspection covers off. The 5/32 (4mm) allen screws are so tight, I've almost ruined the allen heads. I have even tried (carefully) an impact driver. Maybe red Locktite was used at the last assembly. I read in this forum that Locktite melts at 285 degrees C. Can I heat the screws with a butane torch? Will the aluminum cover melt? Aluminum melts at 660 degrees C. Hope you 'old' guys out there have an answer to a newbie.

 

if you can cut a slot for a comman screwdriver using a dremel tool with a cutting wheel that might work, don't cut too deep or too wide, enough to get a bite on the screws to be able to turn them, cutting them does two things, it heats up the screws and loosens them, do one at a time though, good luck

 

I use EasyOut's. You can pick up a set at your hardware store.

Careful with heating.... depends on how the primary was finished (Powder Coated, Chrome, Polished Aluminum etc.)

I'm sure others will chime-in..

Good luck.

 

You might try lightly heating them but you need to be careful as to not discolor or warp the case.

 

Before you try the torch take the bike for a long ride to heat it up and then try the screws again, also I would try a heat gun before the torch. Good luck.

 

Thanks for the fast replies. I think I'll go for that long ride to heat up the engine and then the heatgun. It sounds simple enough. The problem is, when I looked out the window this morning there was 2 inch of snow, and the temp was -5 C. I guess I have to wait a couple of days.

 

I had the allen head screws strip out on my '07 1200c's inspection cover... What I ended up using was a dremel and a shaved down cut off wheel. I just ground the cut off wheel on some concrete until it was down to a small size and then cut a notch into the screws that I could jam a flathead screwdriver into. then just grabbed screwdriver with channel locks and turned the screws out. worked like a charm

 

I've had some cranky ones before but a smack on the impact driver broke them loose every time. Maybe you can put an allen wrench in the head and heat the wrench so as to heat the screw but not damage the surrounding case.

 

Yes, maybe a combination of the three. The dremel, heating gun and the impact driverwill do the job. The snow is still on the ground, but the weather forecast promised warmer weather next week, sooo... hopefully i'll be out on the streets, heating engine.