I had a minor setback last week that could have turned into a real pain. In taking out my spark plugs on the motor the threads were damaged in the head. Looked like the plugs had actually fused to the heads.
And this is where several people would say I screwed up by not working on the motor first...but I know I'll be pulling the heads eventually anyway to rebuild at least the top end when I blow everything apart for paint so I didn't feel like I needed to be in a rush for that. Having a spare motor at my disposal also put this one on the back burner for me. Anyway, after some reading I found mention of something called a "back tap," so I thought I'd give it a try. I inserted the back tap into the plug hole and expanded until it engaged the bottom threads and backed it out. I repeated several times in each and finally was able to get the new plugs started in the holes.
I did get my carb parts in too, so I was able to get the 137.5 mains and 45 pilots in and everything else cleaned up and reassembled. I got the oil filters put back in and started working on the right side cover with gasket clean up...what a pain. I still need to pick up some gasket remover to help soften some of the stubborn areas.
I've been putting off the battery box because I'm not quite sure what I want to do to mount the TCI box. I've read too much about not putting it in the fake oil tank for heat's sake, so I figured it would have to either fit into the battery box or be able to bolt onto the box in some way while still being somewhat covered. I think I have an idea for that, so it was on to the actual battery box.
I have a couple of pieces of 16g sheet metal to work with, so I got to bending...
I knew it would be short so I needed a filler strip to finish it up
I ended up deciding to use the original rubber battery box liner as shock absorption in the new box
I had to grind off some of the tabs off of the rubber liner so it would fit in the box, but it fits like a glove
Now I need to whip up a bottom for the box then work on my TCI mounting idea. Once this gets done and mounted I may have to try to wire up as much as needed to get the motor running.
I still have to mount the tank, make and install turn signal mounts, put together a fake oil tank, and eventually get the fender re-radiused and mounted. I'm glad I've had to do some welding on the battery box to give me some practice on the 16g before I get to the fender. The list seems to be getting shorter...slowly, but still forward progress...