torquing cylinder base nuts....

[stainlesscycle]

welp, we all know the cylinder base nuts in the front are a bitch to torque - i use a box end wrench that i've ground way down and just pull till they're really tight. is there a better method? - i thought i could get a crows foot with a torque wrench in there, but there's just no way..

i noticed there's some oil migrating on the old gasket around the 2 front studs, which tells me i didn't torque enough last time i was in there..(or not clean or not flat....) - book says 25Nm which i convert to 20ft-lbs - doesn't seem that tight..


also anyone run no gasket? i was running .3 gasket, and had 2.0 squish. sent head to rb, and he said no go on the head mod (i have 15 degree plug hole..). if i go to to .15 gasket it'll bring squish to 1.85. if i run no gasket, (and just hylomar..) i think i can get close to .03 thickness (according to hylomar site.....) makes 1.72 squish.. - i've used hylomar on 4t's for base gasket and it's worked amazingly well, but i think 4t base gaskets see at lot less heat/pressure than a 2t..... i know all this will change my port height, which i'm cool with, more low end is always nice on a 200..

[eff]

I cut a 13mm box-end wrench and welded it to a socket and use that with my torque wrench.

[einsteingarage]

I use a KTM bottle opener which is really a cylinder nut wrench (13mm) made to go on a torque wrench as an extender. You could pick one up for a couple bucks because everyone thinks it's a bottle opener.

[stainlesscycle]

this?

http://www.ktm-parts.com/mm5/merchan...de=50329071100

it doesn't appear to have a hole for a torque wrench?

[einsteingarage]

Yup just double check that the nuts are 13mm on your cylinder.

He is a post I did about it on KTM talk

http://ktmtalk.com/index.php?showtopic=201040&st=0


scroll down to picture to see how it works, don't forget to figure out the extension torque formula

[stainlesscycle]

welp, i got the squish to 1.75 with the .15 base gasket. haven't checked compression yet, and it'll probably get a tiny bit tighter when i actually torque the head..

[skid jackson]

iirc ....
i used a regular 13mm open end and box end wrench. One end fit over the nut the other end fit the square thingy on my 1/2 drivew craftsman torque wrench. I think i had to grind the open end a bit to get it to fit. Motion pro has a chart thing you can down load to figure the extension effect.

[kendunn]

Adapters don't give very accurate reading as it changes the distance. You are actually not even supposed to use extensions on torque wrenches. I just try and tighten them all pretty much the same and let it go and have never had a problem. I am much more particular on my heads however. The best thing you could do is get a 12 point wrench that you could drill a hole 12" from the center of the box end. Take a spring scale and and put it through the hole and pull until you get the reading you want. That's where ft/lbs comes from.

I tried using permatex as a base gasket once on my Gasser but it didn't hold for long. I had used it on a CR250 (2t) years ago and it worked, but only lasted 4-6 hours on the GG.