Hello all. I am in the process of restoring an 83 FL250 which seems to be in decent condition. When I first started disassembling, the exhaust pipe was fully of water - fortunately the piston was near TDC stopping it from really going in.
Anyway, I've removed the head, but am just not able to get the top end to seperate from the bottom end and using far more force that I believe should be necessary. I found the shop manual online, but found it to be less than detailed.
Is there a trick to this?
I have done it a couple of different ways...I have used a wooden handle off of a hammer and inserted it into the exhaust port,then pulling up on it sharply to brake the base seal..
You may also put the head back on,put about 6 or 8" of some type of rope in the plug hole,and pull the starter rope...This will allow the piston to push up on the cylinder...It's much easier if you have electric start,but can be done with the pull starter...When doing this,make sure the piston is above the ports...If the rope gets in a port,the piston will pinch it and pretty much cause the engine to lock up...
Worse case,use a wooden block under the exhaust port,take a shop hammer,and hit the block in an upward motion so the force is pushing up on the cylinder...
They can be a real pain,especially when they have been on for a while,but it's not impossible...
Hoodlum
