Vintage BMW Motorcycle Owners

I have a 1974 BMW R60/5. The header pipes and flange nut are corroded and I cannot get them loose. Any suggestions? I tried PB Blaster with no luck.

There is a special wrench of this. But if you've tried to turn the spider exhaust nut and it moved and stopped or if it's as tight as you think it is, my recommendation is to cut it off with a Dremel or hacksaw. Then you can use a chisel or something to spread the nut so it will slip off. You want to do everything you can to save the threads on the exhaust port stub...if those threads are severely damaged, you're options are costly to get it repaired or replaced.

I've BTDT. When I first got my /7 before the Internet, I ruined the threads on one of my heads. I ended up getting it repaired by a guy who did good aluminum welding. I recently did a top end and went immediately to cutting off the exhaust nuts. No way was I going to chance messing things up a second time.

The threads are lubed with a quality anti-seize lubricant but it tends to dry out over time. You're "supposed" to loosen them each year as part of routine maintenance and refresh the lubricant. I've always been remiss in doing that.

I've used "Kroil" with great success when PB Blaster has not worked. It does work but you have to have great patience. Several applications over a few days.

I got the spider nut loose and off along with the compression rings. the pipes are stuck in the heads and will not budge. Before I do any damage does anyone have any suggestions on how to get them loose.

Are the mufflers still attached to the headers? If they're removed, it lets you move the headers around a bit. Soaking in Kroil will help. Likely the issue is that the header pipe that is stuck into the exhaust port is at a small angle and keeping things from moving.

The mufflers are off and all nuts and bolts removed. Also the crossover pipe is off but the pipes are still stuck in the head. I will try kroil. do you think heating the head by the threads would help?

Certainly some amount of heat will help. Kroil and time will also work. You'll need to begin to work the headers out of plane to loosen them up. They're probably just bound up in there, plus some carbon is in there too.