Spark plug cap tear down & new wires & plugs

Thanks, thats a good suggestion. After about 20 mins. of fumbling with it, I was able to somehow get my big hands in there and get the bolt started just enough to then hit it with a ratchet from underneath. Now I have to pour a little coolant in and make sure the water pump gasket stayed in place when I was installing the cover. I used a little sealant on it to help keep in place, but still don't know for sure if it did or not.
 
:hello: I found it best to put the O-ring on the end of the coolant pipe with a dap of dielectric grease then slide it up into the water pump. I've done quite a bit more spark plug cap rebuilding since the begaining of this thread. The biggest problem that I run into is the resistors stay springs being corroded. So I started cleaning the intire spring on my buffers wire wheel. I bought my buffer from Harbor Freight. $80. I've had it for 5 years. IMG_7254.JPG
 
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:hello: When cleaning the spark plug caps internal spring I slide a type of rod through the spring and gently clean it up on the wire wheel side of my buffer. The spring is the one thing that causes the most problems in getting a 5 K ohm reading on a meter.
 
What is the purpose of the resistor? Cool down the spark?
 
:hello: Resistor type spark plug caps provide electrical noise suppression across all frequencies. Engine performance is not adversely affected. I remember back in the 60s and 70s when most cars had only (AM) amplitude modulation. At times you would here motor noise coming through the cars radio. After installing resistor type spark plugs that noise on the radio would go away.
 
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If the bike is designed for resistors in the caps or plugs, keep the proper resistance. It can have a bad effect on your ignition electronics when things aren't operating as designed.
 
The center electrode goes from having a negative potential to a positive one whenever a spark occurs. The high tension lead acts as an antenna to broadcast a signal as the negative and positive potentials at the ends of the wire rapidily swap potential. Any other wires that run parallel or too close to the spark plug leads are most susceptible to interference so it can be bad for nearby electronics. The resistor between the spark gap and antenna (spark plug wire) won't allow a fast enough potential change in the antenna ends to broadcast a good signal.
 
Very interesting. I've been wondering about it for a while. I know the exact engine whine through the speakers your talking about. My caps must have been rebuilt by the PO. I checked them all and very clean in spec all around. It's funny, but not really, I spend all this time and so focused on running condition, I guess because if you don't have that, why bother, but now that it runs right and pulls so hard now you notice the next thing because they only show up full power.
 
I only remember hearing an old BSA single idling over my radio parked about 100' away. No wine but a CLICK... CLICK...CLICK...
 
I have decided to replace the stock coils. They just appear to be my achilles heel. I have decided to put in some Dyna Coils. I have them ready to go in the bike. But I can't seem to mount them in the stock location as wire come out the bottom of the coil and hit the valve cover. What is the trick to getting those mounted? Is there a technique to mounting them in the stock bracket? Do they need to go somewhere else?
 
Have you done an archive search here? Seems there were pics on here to make some brackets that work.
 
Quick question when the wire comes unscrewed from the plug boot should there be a little wire sticking out the end? Because all my wires have none sticking out except for the one plug wire that reads correctly all put together. Just curious for when I put the new wires on if I should leave like 1/4 inch of wire sticking out the ends to make better connections
 
I don't think it's necessary. I believe there is a screw dead center in the boot that threads itself inside the wire.
 
markus56 said:
Have you done an archive search here? Seems there were pics on here to make some brackets that work.
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I'll keep looking. I spent a while looking for something but must not be using the right keywords.

Philip brown said:
Quick question when the wire comes unscrewed from the plug boot should there be a little wire sticking out the end? Because all my wires have none sticking out except for the one plug wire that reads correctly all put together. Just curious for when I put the new wires on if I should leave like 1/4 inch of wire sticking out the ends to make better connections
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Yes, on the stock boots, there is a little screw type lead that sticks out that threads up into the plug wire (very similar to how the coil makes contact). They do get fragile after a while and if they break, well, no more spark.
 
Breeze said:
I have decided to replace the stock coils. They just appear to be my achilles heel. I have decided to put in some Dyna Coils. I have them ready to go in the bike. But I can't seem to mount them in the stock location as wire come out the bottom of the coil and hit the valve cover. What is the trick to getting those mounted? Is there a technique to mounting them in the stock bracket? Do they need to go somewhere else?
Click to expand...
You will have to fab some small L-brackets, or buy some from the hardware store (Stanley brand I think).
This will rotate the coils so the wires come out the side.
 
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