smoke coming out of ignition module?

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Do you know a good welder, couldn't the pieces be tig welded together? :headscratch: Has a custom look to it, never seen one, that works ideas, are a nice feature to have on anyone's scooter. :good: Might be worth another look? :popcorn: :wave:
 
I don't know if it can be welded. I did take it off again and looked closer, its actually 3 pieces and they're thin aluminum, maybe 1/8" thick. It would take a master welder to seal it all up without burning through the material and i cant afford a master welder. Is there a solder that works with aluminum? If so maybe I could solder it together with a propane torch like soldering copper plumbing.

Changing the seal sounds like a good idea too.

Ideally I would like to change the seal for one that doesnt pass oil, and chop that end of the camshaft off flush and seal it with a flat piece of clear plastic so I have more foot room and could see the end of the camshaft spinning. That takes more money than I can spare ATM though. Right now I'm just hoping to seal it up with a dead pump so I can start riding again and worry about getting fancy with it later.
Maybe I don't even need the pump part, just the pump mount/tach drive part with a block off plate on the top.

If I was to take an angle grinder with cut off wheel to that end of the shaft while it is still in the head and carefully cut off the camshaft end flush, would the heat from cutting it off damage the bearing or anything else? I could cut it slowly or let it cool between cuts maybe so the heat is minimized.

I need to just get it reideable on the cheap for now though. I have to put more miles on it and see if I can get it to stop fouling spark plugs. They are all coming out oily with just a bit of tan on the end. I'm hoping with more miles and tuning that will clear up.
 
Quite a few guys have actually just smacked the end with a hammer and just the end comes off. I had a set of heads shipped improperly and it broke off cleanly right by the end by the cam seal. They then use a plate to cover it. You would need a different tachometer then. Off any newer bike will work with electronic tach signal. With the luck this bike has had, I'd go with the cutoff wheel.
 
[url=https://www.classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=139883#p139883:s8q4hv17 said:
ekvh » Tue Jan 27, 2015 2:10 pm[/url]":s8q4hv17]
Quite a few guys have actually just smacked the end with a hammer and just the end comes off. I had a set of heads shipped improperly and it broke off cleanly right by the end by the cam seal. They then use a plate to cover it. You would need a different tachometer then. Off any newer bike will work with electronic tach signal. With the luck this bike has had, I'd go with the cutoff wheel.

I had planned to put on an electronic tach/speedo anyway, when I can afford it, if the engine straightens out.
I'm highly skilled at smacking things with a hammer, that sounds nice. :head bang:
 
[url=https://classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=139882#p139882:3kil0t6g said:
83gl1200 » Tue Jan 27, 2015 3:54 pm[/url]":3kil0t6g]
I don't know if it can be welded. I did take it off again and looked closer, its actually 3 pieces and they're thin aluminum, maybe 1/8" thick. It would take a master welder to seal it all up without burning through the material and i cant afford a master welder. Is there a solder that works with aluminum? If so maybe I could solder it together with a propane torch like soldering copper plumbing.

Changing the seal sounds like a good idea too.

Ideally I would like to change the seal for one that doesnt pass oil, and chop that end of the camshaft off flush and seal it with a flat piece of clear plastic so I have more foot room and could see the end of the camshaft spinning. That takes more money than I can spare ATM though. Right now I'm just hoping to seal it up with a dead pump so I can start riding again and worry about getting fancy with it later.
Maybe I don't even need the pump part, just the pump mount/tach drive part with a block off plate on the top.

If I was to take an angle grinder with cut off wheel to that end of the shaft while it is still in the head and carefully cut off the camshaft end flush, would the heat from cutting it off damage the bearing or anything else? I could cut it slowly or let it cool between cuts maybe so the heat is minimized.

I need to just get it reideable on the cheap for now though. I have to put more miles on it and see if I can get it to stop fouling spark plugs. They are all coming out oily with just a bit of tan on the end. I'm hoping with more miles and tuning that will clear up.
Yes there is just the thing you seek. I just bought some.
https://www.harborfreight.com/8-piece-lo ... 44810.html
 
My understanding is, it's like brazing, or soldering. But propane or map gas will supply enough heat to join together.
 
Yes. But heat only enough to melt the rod and get it flowing. Too much heat and the parts will melt. I've seen it done but as yet haven't done it myself.
 
I tried it. It sticks, looks pretty but only bonds at the surface. I believe to be successful you need special lenses to cut down the orange glow from the aluminum. It seemed to be impossible to notice when the aluminum turned to a puddle. I tried various cleansers and wire brushed the crap out of it. I even tried it with a TIG welder I have, but it's only a DC TIG. My understanding==vary limited---is that the skin of the aluminum is so much harder than underneath that by the time you've gotten enough heat to melt the outside, the underside is already molten. When you think you've got it right, it blobs onto the floor. I also tried several tinning agents with no luck.
 
Seen it done is a funny thing, I seen a guy at a M/C show years ago, trying to sell a (supposed?) set/up of oxygen & accetaline, with which he was welding aluminum pop cans, & they looked beautiful. Probably had those rods back then, haven't seen this type of set up since. Said set up's heat, was so controllable you could weld every thing from the pop can's to a cast iron bath tub. :headscratch: Passed, hope i didn't miss out on a great thing :nea:
 
I watched videos of that guy. He had special lenses, I think. If you google gas welding aluminum you'll come across the tin man who wants you to buy his $200 glasses. He said it's the color of the flame that prevents us from seeing the puddle when it starts.
 
[url=https://classicgoldwings.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=139944#p139944:1049zwaf said:
Denver » Wed Jan 28, 2015 3:29 pm[/url]":1049zwaf]
Seen it done is a funny thing, I seen a guy at a M/C show years ago, trying to sell a (supposed?) set/up of oxygen & accetaline, with which he was welding aluminum pop cans, & they looked beautiful. Probably had those rods back then, haven't seen this type of set up since. Said set up's heat, was so controllable you could weld every thing from the pop can's to a cast iron bath tub. :headscratch: Passed, hope i didn't miss out on a great thing :nea:

I learned oxy/acetaline and arc welding in high school. Its 90 percent skill which makes it possible to weld something as thin and fragile as a pop can, not just the rig you weld with. Only the best welders could do something like that, which is why Jessie James used the beer can welding test as his first choice to narrow down who he might take on as employees. I couldn't do this part with a setup like that unless I practiced a lot and this is nowhere near as hard as welding a pop can.

What I ended up doing it sealing it from the outside by giving it several coats of truck bed liner spray. I haven't tested it yet, just put it back on this morning and letting the liquid gasket set up. I think this will work if it can stand up to the heat. Time will tell... I would have liked to have sealed it back up on the inside instead so it could have stayed shiny but it didn't look like that would work.
 
The truck bedliner worked. No more oil leaks finally. I did my third or fourth oil change, and tuned the carb some more and she's smoothing out and running well now. Success!
 

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