Can I call dibs on this bike for when you decide to upgrade?
Can I call dibs on this bike for when you decide to upgrade?
I will confess that I had no idea how an ultrasonic cleaner does it's thing.
This site does a nice job explaining it without being too science-y. I think I'm gonna have to get one.
The ultrasonic is fantastic for cleaning electrical connections. Obviously motorcycles have a lot of electrical plugs with multi pins and sockets. While you can unpin each plug and manually scrub each terminal, that's really not too effective. There's hardly any way to clean the inside of as female spade connector for instance. The ultrasonic makes them clean and shiny in 5 minutes. Even the plastic plug housings get bright and clean again. Just submerge the plug and twist the timer knob. No reason to unpin anything and use wire brushes or aerosol cleaners.
Thanks for the recommendation where to find a good used ultrasonic cleaner. I've wanted one for a while (mainly for bike carbs) so I think I need to go shopping on eBay in the bit. Also didn't think about using one for electrical connectors, that's a great idea.
BTW, regarding the tank - if you're on Facebook, there are a couple of groups for early 'wing parts. Someone there may have a tank that only has the number of holes Honda originally designed them with. If you're not on FB PM me on here and I can ask in one of the groups as I'm a member on account of having a garage ornament GL1000.
What's the liquid in the ultrasonic tank?
In reply to BoxheadTim :
Thank you. I am a member of several FB groups for parts. Mainly I am trying to avoid shipping costs. This is a pretty big tank. I haven't given up on this one yet.
OHSCrifle said:What's the liquid in the ultrasonic tank?
25% Purple Power cleaner/ 75% tap water.
Welcome to another episode of Cousin Eddie makes a mountain out of a molehill. The rear master cylinder...
Warning, I am about to get nerdy.
A little background. 1982 Goldwings use a one year only rear master cylinder. Further, they share this unit with no other bikes across the Honda lineup. So, needless to say, they are a bit hard to find. In recent times, the common solution is to buy a modern Goldwing master cylinder and adapt it to the bike. Cheap and common are the advantages to this modification.
As a matter of fact, someone had already done this to my bike. Unfortunately the original master cylinder was lost to time.
Modern GL1800 rear master cylinder as found on my bike.
Now, I do not like this. Only one bolt lines up properly and it's just a scab job unless the frame has a new bracket welded to it for mounting this modern unit. Also, the modern master cylinder is 11/16 bore which is quite a lot larger than the OEM 14mm bore unit. Plus, I am a bit of a Honda purist snob. I just believe in original Honda engineering.
So, off to eBay to keep close watch and wait for a 1982 Goldwing master cylinder to pop up. Needless to say, they are few and far between. And when they do show up on eBay, they usually sell for about 100 dollars or more for a core needing rebuilt.
Finally I found one that was selling for parts since it was hopelessly seized up. I put in the starting bid and waited. Fortunately no one else wanted a seized up master cylinder so I won the auction.
When it arrived my saintly wife opened it up and cut the boot off of it and took it apart as far as she could and dropped it into my Evaporust bucket and let it sit while I was away at work for a few days. Then when I got home I put it in the ultrasonic cleaner and let it run for 20 minutes.
After that I started patiently taking it apart. Even with a lot of compressed air I couldn't get the piston to pop out. Finally I drilled a small hole in the middle of the piston and used a screw extractor to turn the piston a bit. After that, it blew apart with compressed air.
Then, back into the ultrasonic to clean it again.
Now we can get to work.
I used a 14mm diamter, 320 grit, ball hone to dress the bore and make sure I had a smooth finish. Fortunately the bore was actually quite nice to start with so it just took a quick spin with the little dingle ball hone to shine it up. Then I cleaned it again to remove the honing detritus.
I had to use tiny drill bits to open up the clogged compensating port. With patience I got it cleaned out and spotless.
One more sub-project checked off the list.
Love it. Hell even with remans (if you could find one) they seem that leak or quick working.
In reply to Professor_Brap :
I wouldn't ordinarily go to so much trouble for something so simple but it was my only option to get an original master cylinder on this bike.
While waiting for the gas tank to come back from the radiator shop I went ahead and got started on restoring some ancillaries.
The fuel level sending unit did not work at all. It was wide open resistance from bottom to top of it's swing.
This is another of those irreplaceable parts.
After cleaning it up the electrical part started working again. It now reads the full sweep of resistance (5 ohms to 90 ohms) as I sweep it from one extreme to the other.
I still need to order a new sending unit oring and a petcock rebuild kit.
I'm gonna have to get me one of them dentist cleaners. Not sure where I'm gonna put it.
In reply to Dr. Hess :
Put it where you used to keep all those cans of brake cleaner, carb cleaner, and degreaser. You won't need that stuff much anymore.
The gas tank came back from the radiator shop today, but unfortunately I have to go to work for 48 hours starting tomorrow morning. So all I had time to do today is put a coat of paint on the exterior of it. Next week when I get home from work I'll finish the tank with a liner.
So, last update had the bike torn all to pieces for the gas tank repair.
I got the tank all sealed up yesterday. Love me some POR15 gas tank sealer. So this morning I put it all back together.
The red rag is covering the gas tank sending unit hole. I am still awaiting arrival of a new sending unit oring.
So, onward and upward, or maybe forward. I moved up and stsarted working on the front of the bike.
Brakes removed, disassembled and cleaned. They are in good shape so I ordered a pair of caliper seal kits for them. No hard parts needed.
Then I removed the front wheel and changed the wheel bearings, seals, and tire.
Now I wait for delivery of the fuel sending unit oring and brake caliper kits.
I dug into the carburetors today.
I know this bike ran because the odometer proves it accumulated mileage since last summer.
One thing I can guarantee though, it was missing on cylinder #3.
I have quite a road ahead of me on this rack of carbs.
I put it into the magic box for 20 minutes of sorcery to get an idea of what was under that mess.
It's not hopeless. 20 minutes later...
This should give you an idea of the amount of detritus that came out of the carbs as I disassembled them.
One at a time, and step by step, my stubborn ass will get them back in order.
In reply to Cousin_Eddie :
Dang, that box of sorcery is truly sorcerous. I'm gonna get one of those this year.
Coming along nicely. Can you regulate the temperature in that ultrasonic cleaner?
AngryCorvair said:In reply to Cousin_Eddie :
Dang, that box of sorcery is truly sorcerous. I'm gonna get one of those this year.
You just drop it in the basket, twist the timer to 20 minutes or so, then go do other things while it's working. I waited too long to get one myself. No smell. No stinky hands. Better results than I have ever gotten with any other method.
Slippery said:Coming along nicely. Can you regulate the temperature in that ultrasonic cleaner?
The heater is a separate control, so you can regulate it that way. But there is no temperature setting. I left it on all day yesterday. It won't get hot enough to boil the liquid.
Harbor freight has magic boxes, I'm really liking the look of it. The carb post Alone make me want one.
Hey Eddie, notice any issues with the buzz box stripping paint from painted parts?
Professor_Brap said:Harbor freight has magic boxes, I'm really liking the look of it. The carb post Alone make me want one.
For a bit more money than the HF Chinese unit you can get a made in USA industrial quality unit used off of eBay. I nearly went with the HF and their 20% coupon, but I'm glad I went a little further and got a big commercial unit. This one swallows 4 motorcycle carburetors no problem. I'm all in at 200 dollars shipped to my door.
Mr_Asa said:Hey Eddie, notice any issues with the buzz box stripping paint from painted parts?
So far, no. The only painted parts I have put into it are Honda motorcycle brake calipers and master cylinder. It didn't damage the paint on any of them. Maybe it's just very robust paint since it's factory brake parts paint. I can't speak intelligently about the matter to be honest.
I've been looking for those on ebay, Eddie, with no luck. They have the small ones, but not the 3.6 gallon one you have. At least not in the two bill range. There's a Chinese one of about that size for a good price, but I'd rather have one like you have.
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