More fitment problems

Sooooooo I bought a pair of exhaust gaskets & a pair of lock rings off ebay. I fitted them & tightened the exhaust ring/nut as tight as I could by hand. It flattened the exhaust lock ring but the exhaust was still sloppy loose. Loose enough I do not believe even with a tool it will crush the gasket. Any ideas

Are you sure you have the right exhaust nuts? There are different length nuts. As I recall, the nuts for the later 850 pipes with conical ends are shorter than the earlier, and will not work properly with the earlier style pipes with flat ends, unless you add a spacer or double up on the gaskets, or something like that. I might have it backwards. What year is your bike, and which exhaust pipes and nuts do you have? Sounds like maybe you are trying to use the short nuts on an exhaust that needs the long ones.

Ken

When I built my 850 into the Featherbed frame in 1980 I had new header pipes bent up without the balance pipe as well because of all the problems with those BS locking clamps I run my headers with just the exhaust gaskets but on one side the clamp ran out of tightness and one pipe was still slitely lose so I just added another gasket, I don't have locking rings or anything like that at all and in doing this for over 35 years now I have never had a exhaust pipe come lose, but my Norton is all hard mounted no isolastics at all, so just add another flange gasket and it will tighen up and no one will know the diffrents.

Ashley

ashman said:

just add another flange gasket and it will tighen up and no one will know the diffrents.

Ashley

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OK thanks. Im pretty sure this is all original but I thought of that or running without locking rings. Can probably run the used gaskets on the inner side then the new ones outer.
Thanks guys

Wolfman said:

ashman said:

just add another flange gasket and it will tighen up and no one will know the diffrents.

Ashley

Click to expand...

OK thanks. Im pretty sure this is all original but I thought of that or running without locking rings. Can probably run the used gaskets on the inner side then the new ones outer.
Thanks guys

Click to expand...

Yer thats all you got to do, one of the old ones will work, once tighten up it won't leak, just make sure you retighten the flanges while they are hot and just keep a eye on the flanges, if your like me you check things before a ride, just add your flanges to the your check list.

Ashley

The locking ring can rattle. If the exhaust nut loosens and is allowed to rattle with the lock ring, this will chew up the threads in the exhaust port.
You have the parts, so keep an eye on it.
On the INOALIST@yahoo site, Mike T suggest using Hightemp RTV on the threads. I put some on the threads, tighten the nuts up and let it cure overnight. The next day any RTV that squeezed out is easily pealed off. I've not had one loosen doing this and when I need to remove the exhaust they give way easily.

Don't use lock rings nasty things or steel exhaust nuts, they don't expand at the same rate as aluminium. Get a pair of bronze exhaust nuts and if you don't like the colour they are available nickle plated. Once tightened they never come loose. Keep all the old exhaust gaskets too, great for packing as you are finding out.


Dave

throw the locking rings over the fence as far from a norton as you can

Looking at the pictures posted on "what model is my commando", you have 850 header nuts...too short.
Mike B.