my carb cleaning work continues

my carb cleaning work continues - updated

Hello all, I wanted to post an update on my progress; I've run into a few 'speed bumps' or 'brick walls'.

1) I've got 3 out of 4 carb float bodies cleaned out, the jets nice & sparkly clean inside & out, varnish all gone. the fourth, however, has a mostly stripped screwhead. It's not just a simple stripped screw though, it's the one inside the red circle in the 1st picture. It's the one in between the two pieces, where I need a long skinny screwdriver to reach. I need to find a screw extractor which will fit onto a universal handheld screwdriver. A power drill bit will never fit into this opening, unless the bit is plenty long... Has anyone else had problems like this?! I feel very alone.

2) I've got 2 out of 4 valve bodies cleaned up. EVERYWHERE I've read on this forum gives specific advice to NOT remove the carb bodies from the 'plate'. I can understand why, and I don't want to. However, if you look at the 2nd picture, these two valve lids pretty much face the plate, and I can't fit a screwdriver in there to remove the valve lids. Am I going to have to cringe and bear it, removing them from the plate just for these 2 valves to get cleaned?

Thanks for all the advice!

 

put properly sized phillips on the stuck screw, tap a few times with a hammer, and try to turn while tapping; if that won't work, drill the head off the screw.....then remove the stub with needle-nosed pliers. Replace all damaged screws when reassembling.

NO NEED to remove airbox plate: access screws atop vaccum chambers by easily removing the 2 black rubber inserts above them

 

Good advice from Squirrelman about the Phillips, but you can take it one step further. Japanese screws are made to the JIS standard. These screws have a slightly shallower head. A SAE standard Phillips screwdriver does not penetrate deep enough into the head. The tip is too long. Take a standard Phillips screwdriver and file off a bit of the point. I'm not talking a lot here, just maybe 1/16". You will see that the tip of the screwdriver will now penetrate deeper into the screw and may give you enough bite to remove the screws.

As Squirrelman says try your phillips in the screw before you give it a twist, if it doesn't fit perfectly do not attempt to remove the screw, it will only strip. I like to use hex bits on the end of a magnetic tip screwdriver. Different manufacturers use different configurations so most tips are slightly different. I try different tips until I find the one that fits perfectly and then try to remove the screw. This works 99% of the time.

On trying to find a long drill bit, go to you local industrial supply house and ask them for "Bell Hanger" bits. These bits are what phone company installers use to drill through walls and they are 12" long! These bits are used in many industrial applications not just the phone company.

Good Luck!

Maggot

 

It can also be helpful to apply some valve grinding compound to the tip of the screwdriver. It doesn't always work, but sometimes it's just enough additional traction to make the difference.

If it makes you feel any better, I don't think I've ever had a screw head (or threads) strip out in an easily accessible location. They're ALWAYS in a PITA location!

 

Squirrelman: Thank you for the advice on removing the little plastic inserts to get access to those screws, I would NEVER have figured that out! My own little 'duh' moment!

Also, I come in triumph; VICTORY!!! arty2:
(see 1st image below, I removed the satanic screw).

Of course, God has a sense of humor: if you see the second image, this ONE float body was the LEAST fouled float body of the four. The one I had to fight the hardest just to get the lid off, will take the least amount of work to get clean! Which raises questions that this might be a red flag: the fact that this one float body is so much less fouled: could this be a sign that it was somehow not getting fuel that last time it ran? It's still going to need some work, obviously, it's just amazing that the other 3 were like swamps, and this one is just a little cruddy...

 

IT'S common for the left side carbs to accumulate more rust flakes and debris because gravity delivers it downslope while bike is resting on the sidestand.

You'll notice that after you remove the float needle seats and clean the small filters located above them.

 

DONE! I got it all apart, all cleaned, and all back together. I used one of the better screws for the awkward spot, and re-used the satan screw in a much more open accessible spot after jig-sawing a flat-head groove in what was left of the screw head! I figured I'll give the screw one last chance. The threads and washer were fine, just a little wrong in the head... in some ways, it's much like me... Anyway thanks to ALL for the advice, I'll be moving on to the next project(s) now!
-Matt