Vintagizing a motor with hot rod wires :)

Velodrome

Velodrome

Well-Known Member
Vintagizing ( It's a word because I say so ) :) my Lifan 97cc. After paint I decided I wanted some old skool hot rod / antique wire and conectors. As its going on my ~ 1915 style BTR I thought this was apropriate. I bought my stuff from "The Hot Rod Company" http://www.thehotrodcompany.com/shopnow/show_item.asp?product_id=NUT270 I got the nuts clips and because you have to order 8 of each I went ahead an got the 25' of wire.... Think I'm set for a while. Anyhoo. Off we go!
 

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First order of buisness was getting the old stock wire out of the magnito. Mine broke off so I had to dig out the old rubber and epoxy. Using a pic which i ended up needing to grind skinny'er so it could reach all the way down to the bottem of the cavity alongside the screw stud thngy that secures the wire and acts as a conductor.
 

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Now. On third thought Im not at all sure this was advisable, but I went ahead and doodit anyway. The only epoxy I had in the house was JB weld and I had just returned from ACE Hardware and wasnt gonna make a second trip. Now I dont know if the metalic portion of the JB is gonna give me ignition problems or not. TIme will tell. OR mabe one of you fellas can chime in and tell me if I just hosed myself or not. I mix'd up the JB and coated the outside ONLY portion of the cable. no jb was in contact with the conducting wire.
 

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Next job was the plug end. At ACE I bought some #2 screws, as they were the size that fit in the end hole on the nickle plated clips. In went the wire and using a eyeglasses screwdriver I screwed it as good as I could! Once this was done I heated it up and put a dab of solder on the screw / clip join and called it good. I'm wondering though if I should crimp the clip to the wire also for a better, more solid conection of the parts.
 

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So! On with the magnito and the knurled knut! I think its pritty ! AND it will give inavertant painfull electrical shocks that are potentially leathal as well! Who wouldnt do this? laff
 

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To the motor experts: please consider my choice of JB for the mag /wire connection and let me know if I just buggered the job up. OH! and the crimping of the clip. Thanks in advance
 
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Man for a guy who says he don't know much about M/B's you got me fooled!! is that the engine out of the Mean Green Felt?
I'm going to use some Liquid Nails or silicone caulking (don't know wich yet?) to secure my wire into the coil, I've found that the silicone is xlnt for a sealing adheisive with out screwing up electrical connections and I'll be able to get it out if anything goes wrong or if things change with mechanics, I don't think that the JB weld will hurt but it is kinda perminate so you might want to order another magnito for the future if needed,
Looks really good!! and I like a nice looking engine that doesn't remind me of a poor robbed lawn mower.
 
Thanks Guys! Heres some pics of the finished motor. Dan ( Taylar ) Has my carb and flywheel. Hes making a brass pulley rope pull start thingy and a brass velocity stack. I cut off alot of the extra and nolonger needed tabs and cleaned it up with a dremel and cutoff wheel / grinder. Took off the ears that supported the gas tank. stuff like that.
 

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Nice writeup velodrome, I can't wait to see how it works. Keep us posted because I would love to incorporate something like this into my bikes.
 
Thanks Lurker! I still concider myself a newbie. But as a REALLY new newbie stuff like this just had me stumped. Im getting more comfortable and willing to experiment :) Hope this helps someone.
 
Just a note for using silicone on or near electrical connections - don't use an acidic cure because it will corrode the wire, connectors and/or solder if present especially if in a closed space. You can tell if it is an acidic cure because it will smell like vinegar. The acidic cure is for sticking to surfaces where adhesives normally don't.

Not sure about the JB Weld but one thing you did that will work in your favor is that you applied the goop to the part being inserted so that the excess wicked up the wire. It's a general rule of thumb with adhesives to put the goop on the part so that the excess goes someplace harmless. This gets overlooked a lot. Looking forward to seeing the engine installed! I just rewired my 1903 with waxed cloth wires and it's tedious work.
 
Velo, I'll be interested in seeing the rope pull start "thingy". I have wanted to do away with my recoil pull start "thingy" so I could get rid of the plastic shroud. There is a small engine repair guy down the street I was gonna bug and see if there was an old one laying around I could make work.
Dan
 
Tinsmith said:
Velo, I'll be interested in seeing the rope pull start "thingy". I have wanted to do away with my recoil pull start "thingy" so I could get rid of the plastic shroud. There is a small engine repair guy down the street I was gonna bug and see if there was an old one laying around I could make work.
Dan
Click to expand...

Hey Dan, Dan here, Dan has my thingy...Once I get it back from Dan ( Orabona ) and have it mounted I'll post up pic's. What motor specifically are you looking to loose the recoil?
 
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