Another major step –
I was able to seal the tank with POR15 and get the bike pretty much wired up.
The POR15 was somewhat easy, but for future reference – do not do this after you have painted your tank!!!! Fortunately, I did no damage to the finish, but I was sweating the entire time.
To start, I wrapped the tank in saran wrap thoroughly, however no matter how well I sealed up everything, I had leaks all over the place. What a PITA. Fortunately, the POR15 Marine Clean and Metal Prep did not mar the paint. Whew… I may have slightly etched the chrome on the tank’s side covers, but I think it will polish out – if not, it is not visible unless you are looking for it.
Here are some pics – I was so crazy about protecting from damage, I did not take as many shots of the project as I should have. I should add that my tank was free of varnish, and only showed some flash rust, but I wanted to go soup to nuts on the POR15 process.
You can see a small rubber “foot” cap I found at the local ACE sealing off the petcock bung. This worked great, not everything else did…
Green Painter’s Tape for additional protection around the Filler
The PITA rear Crossover spouts. If the POR15 seals these up, I will lose no sleep
The Marine Clean will be diluted 1:1 with hot water – warm should be fine, I think mine was too hot and messed the tape’s glue…
A rubber chair foot I found at the local ACE with Duct tape attempting to close off the two rectangular “wing” openings for the fuel cap
Anyway, I followed the POR15 directions and in between products I thoroughly rinsed the painted surfaces of any chemicals from the kit. After the Metal Prep, I took the tank to my kitchen sink and rinsed out all the chemical with hotter than warm water. I then used a hairdryer to evaporate the water from the tank and let it sit in a warm room overnight. Not too much flash rust occurred in that time.I then mixed the Sealer, and poured it in. I spent the best part of an hour rolling the tank around and peeking in the tank with a flashlight and dental mirror to gauge my progress. Once I had a nice even coat inside, I drained the excess sealer from the petcock bung and rear crossover tubes. It was a messy process, but I made out OK, and the coating looks good.
Bob’s your uncle…
Onto the wiring:
I used the included connectors with the Oregon Cycle Reg/Rec – a nice kit, BTW. I cut the four-way connector from the main wiring harness as my plastic was looking pretty manky. I put the male end water tight rubbers on the main harness followed by the brass connectors. The females I put on the OCP unit. For the female connectors, first install the brass connectors on the wires and then install the rubber sleeves – it is much easier.
Nice and neat…
From there, using a wiring harness as a guide, I hooked up each circuit, testing for power and ground where necessary. Everything went together fine. The harness has some crappy splices, but almost (I will get to that…) everything works as it should. I will clean up the splices and replace the15A glass fuse with a modern unit and holder.
Let there be light!!!!!
Tail. I did have to supply a ground to the fender, and just went off one of the stock taillight mounts
OK, here is the problem. My Brake light is always on, if I actuate the brake lever on the foot – the light turns off. Now, the brake system is not set up with fluid yet, so I don’t know how the front brake switch works, and if this is problem. The Sparco light has only 2 wires, each will light the low beam, but when both have juice, the high beam lights. What am I missing?
Next week – hooking up the Pamco Ignition, oil gas and light a fire! Hopefully…
