Yam_Tech314's official build thread

Geeezzzz....that’s one in the goolies....:cussing:
Yup. $400 car. $500 head rebuild. I COULD motor swap it, but at this point, I've gotten 2 years out of the car, I'm a 2 minute drive from my job, and the rest of the car is as healthy as a fly in a Venus fly trap... I think it's more cost effective to just move on. Have a couple more things to try but if they fail, I'll get scrap price for it and move along with my life.
 
Sorry to hear about your car. I’m happy to hear you’re getting your bike up to speed! At least you’ve got wheels. :)
 
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So I spent some time in my workshop today. Got the brake light wired up to the new M/C and realized my soldering iron doesnt work well enough to solder consistently, and I also have no wire strippers, and NO CRIMPERS. Boy what a pain in the ass it is to put new leads on a wire without proper tools...

Lesson learned, spend the money on a good soldering iron, buy high quality solder, and buy NEW leads that fit. Don't rig a damn thing. I got the light to work, but holy cow is it ugly. As long as I pass inspection when I'm ready, I'll be happy. I'll most certainly be doing that again. I hate the way it's set up. But it'll do for now.

On the POSITIVE side of things, I got my new front sprocket on, I think I found the right routing for my clutch cable, and I was able to get my stock throttle body to fit into my new bars (with A LOT of sanding and elbow grease.)

The bike really did fight me tonight, but in actuality I believe not having proper tools is what the real fight arose from. You don't know what you need until you need it, and don't have it...

I know it's not recommended to reuse the bending washer for the front sprocket, but is it alright to flatten out, and reuse a side that hasn't been bendlt over before? That's what I did..
 

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Yes, it's fine to re-use that lock washer as many times as it will let you. Eventually, it will give out from having been bent too many times, but it's not something you do very often so it will serve you for many years.
 
Eventually, it will give out from having been bent too many times, but it's not something you do very often so it will serve you for many years.

I'm very happy that I'm able to cheap with that one.
It seemed like something that was safe to reuse, and I wish I had a torque wrench to know for sure that I'll be good, but I gave it a real good tighten up and bent the lock washer down .feels super solid to me, but from what I've heard it's gonna loosen up over time no matter what I do.
 
As long as I pass inspection when I'm ready, I'll be happy. I'll most certainly be doing that again. I hate the way it's set up. But it'll do for now.

I don't wish to be a granny-good witch G_YamTech....but I suspect that you may be missing the point on that brake light. Passing the inspection is certainly important - BUT - having that brake light work every single time, without fail, rain or shine in a high-vibration environment - is what will keep some:
  • phone-yacking-Mom-in-a-minivan or,
  • self-important-real-estate-agent-numbnuts in an Escalade or,
  • stupid-arrogant-little-prick-in-a-highly-polished-BMW 3-Series....
...from ramming you up the tailpipe and killing you. That crash could take place as you ride happily away from the successful pass on the inspection - if your crummy solder joint fails....

On the matter of soldering....in my experience, many people do it incorrectly and therefore do not achieve good joints (and as children of the '70's, I, and many other Forum members I am certain, can assure you that there is nothing like a good joint). :rolleyes:

To solder properly, be sure that you have a good hot iron AND high quality solder AND good clean flux paste (that last one is the part that most people ignore).
  1. Join the wires together mechanically (so that they stay together even before you solder them) and then,
  2. Apply a bit of flux paste to the joint and then,
  3. Heat the joint until the flux paste melts - and only THEN,
  4. Apply the solder to the heated joint - NOT to the iron - but to the wires near the iron,
  5. Leave the iron in place until the joint is filled with shiny liquid solder - and then remove the iron and allow the solder to cool.
Heat the wires - and THEN touch the solder to the wires - and it will flow into the joint and all through the strands of the wires and thus make a joint which is both mechanically secure and electrically conductive.

The solder will automatically flow everywhere that is clean (that’s what the flux paste does) and sufficiently hot.

The key point is that some people heat the solder on the iron - and then blob it onto the wires like some sort of glue - but that is totally incorrect. If you complete a proper solder joint, it will ALWAYS work for the rest of the life of the bike.

Once you have completed the solder joint - you need to insulate it to protect it from the elements and keep the electricity inside the wires where it is supposed to be. The best thing to use is heat-shrink tubing - but high quality electrical tape (anything with a CSA or UL label) is OK too - although even good tape often doesn't do well in wet environments.

Here is a little photo series on good mechanical and electrical joining techniques:
54c86bb8d3c5f_-_how-to-solder-steps.jpg


Cheers,

Pete
 
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Pete, I most definitely agree with you, and I'm glad you've shed some light on how mechanical soundness and safety go hand in hand, even with something that seems as simple as a soldered brake light switch.
 
What Pete's pic is showing is what's called a "Western Union" splice, and it's very good for in-line splices - but it must be soldered. It won't hold together on it's own. I use them all the time.

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What Pete's pic is showing is what's called a "Western Union" splice, and it's very good for in-line splices
Yep that's the way I was thought to splice wire 40a+ years ago. Reason it's called a Western Union is that is how telegraph were spliced. No solder on telegraph though.
 
Yep that's the way I was thought to splice wire 40a+ years ago. Reason it's called a Western Union is that is how telegraph were spliced. No solder on telegraph though.
The solder job I was trying to do was a crimped on female slot for the new and improved brake m/c. I essentially twisted the wire to get it thru the terminal I was going to connect, and untwisted the wire to get good contact in the crimp. I crimped it half assed (i had to use needle noses due to my lack of a good wire stripping and crimper tool combo.) And it stayed enough to flux and solder. The problem I ran into is that I only had two hands, and no metal surface to set the wire on to press hard enough to heat it up.

The operation lacked three main components.

Stable surface

high quality solder

and a pen style soldering iron. (Preferably butane)

I was using a soldering gun, yes the one with a light, trigger, and a HUGE body. Not the best set up at all. Going to invest in GOOD tools for that so I can get it right next time around.

I worked for a company that required brazing, and soldering for a special unit that cools computer equipment in submarines, so I've got a little experience with it all, but that was over a year ago now, and I was lucky then to have a shop with the proper tools and equipment that the military demanded we use.

In my garage at home, I was apparently wrong to think that the "soldering kit" that Advance Auto sells would be sufficient. How wrong I was! :oops:
 
Those gun type soldering tools can be fine if powerful enough, I use a Weller brand soldering gun for all light duty wire splices and terminal connections but some others just don't make a lot of heat. Rosin core solder is self fluxing and was recomended to me by my dad who was an electrical engineer so that's where my teachings come from. Acid flux is a no-no with electrics as it promotes corrosion but made very strong assemblies with silver solder in slot car builds!
 
All I've ever used was the small pencil type soldering iron. It works fine for these small wires. Another "tool" I have that makes the work much easier is this "helping hands" holder. It holds the wire or wires for you, freeing up both hands to do the soldering. It's a "must have" in my opinion .....

EzA0Uty.jpg


https://www.harborfreight.com/helping-hands-60501.html?cid=paid_google|*PLA+-+All+Products+-+Higher+Sales+Items|New+Products+-+(1)+Price+<$10|60501&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&mkwid=sFPL1GbOW|pcrid|278978017105|pkw||pmt||pdv|c|slid||product|60501|&pgrid=56296736066&ptaid=aud-446108146723:pla-296589960189&pcid=1458484684&intent=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIjpuVwYTJ4wIVjYnICh2SigeKEAQYASABEgISpfD_BwE

Yup, I use a Weller “pencil” model and a set of those third hands too.

Definitely the “hot” setup....<get it?>
 
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