Missing head bolt!

[B5200]

Yesterday, I was doing a little clean up on my 84 B5200, which I purchased a while back, when I noticed the right rear head bolt sticking up about 3 inches and falling over at an angle. Actually it is not a bolt but a stud with nut on the end. It fell out in my hand and appears to be broken off, as there are no threads on the bottom end. I feel like this has just happended - how could I have missed something like this. The machine "still" runs great with no leaks anywhere.

I suppose my plan is to "try" to extract the stud and replace with a proper bolt. Any ideas or advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks

 

[hodge]

What does the end of the stud look like? That will tell you the answer. If it is dirty or corroded where the break is, then it happened a while back. If it is clean and fresh, then it just happened. I bet it has been sitting in there loose, and it has bounced up while running.
Either way, probably the best thing to do is to go ahead and pull the head, check things out, remove the broken stud end, and put it back together. Chances are, you will have an easier time removing the stud, and you can double check to see if there are any ill effects.
Welcome to OTT!

 

[Bluegill]

Welcome to OTT.

Pictures are most helpful.