The Hodaka Club Forum

The Ace trials project is starting to take shape just a little bit.I,m not sure if I will put the head on as is or maybe paint it as that is the best that I could get it cleaned up.Still need to clean the carb,make a seat and exhaust system(might just use an Ace 90 for now) and get tires.

Will the magneto cover bolt on over the extra brass flywheel weight shown in the photo?
Ed

I thought the same thing when I first put it on,but yes it does fit.

Sweet trialer!!

I think Ed is right, I don't think the weight will fit inside the cover. Also it may be better to make the weight the same dia as the flywheel to get the most out of adding weight. Start out with the most weight that will fit in the case, then test it and keep shaving weight till you get a good balance of bottom end grunt and being able to turn the rpm's up fast. Adding weight to the middle is not going to give the same affect as adding it to the outside of the flywheel.
Jack K

This is looking like a winner, and the tone of the color looks on. Nice work!

Hey Mac, the project is looking good! You might consider blasting the head. It's quick and easy. In my case I do the side covers also. I spray them with WD-40 before mudding. They clean up well with degreaser. When everything gets beat up, blast them again! Just a thought.

Max

PS--The peg set up is cool and I love that cute little foot brake!

Max,I got impatient and painted it last night.It looks okay at best and just confirms that I really do need to invest in a blast cabinet.The brake pedal might not have enough leverage so may need further development.

Jack,I see what you mean about the flywheel weight diameter.A good friend of mine who is a machinist had it on the shelf from back in the day when he did some mods to Hodakas for his friends.He was kind enough to pretty much give it to me so for now I,m going to try it and see how it works.It does fit inside the cover.I appreciate and welcome your input and have been an admirer of all of your past builds.

Thanks to all for the comments and I will add pics as the build progresses.

How about a pic of the painted head? I'd like to see how it turned out painted. What engine paint did you use? I've been using the Satin black available at my local O'Rileys Auto Parts. Pretty tough paint and seems to be holding up well to the two stroke heat! Victor

Victor,here are some photos of the painted cylinder head.It could have looked better if I would have taken the time to properly prep it before painting.
It went on pretty good with light coats and did not run easily like some silver paints do.I have used it on a couple of other bikes and it does hold up well.

Today was carb clean day and this is what came out of the float valve/needle and seat.

. . . and I think it is a safe guess that all that rust came from the gas tank. You should probably take a peek in there.
Ed

And make sure to put a good in line filter on your fuel line!
The paint looks pretty good! A lot better than I thought it would! I'm used to using black for mine. Did my Model 95 top end and the whole motor black, and of course, the Toads are black too! Victor

Just an update on a little bit of work that I have done.

Got the carb all cleaned up,gaskets made and remounted.I soaked it in CLR and it came out looking a bit dull.I,m gonna call it a "works" sand cast look.

The top end is all buttoned up and the motor is secured in the frame.That last part led me to find out that the motor mount bolts can be tightened up too much.

I pulled the ignition side back apart for two reasons.First,I want to at least replace the crank seal on that side to help try and insure that a big air leak does come about from an old seal.

Second reason was to tidy up the wiring a bit,but I probably should have left it alone until I had to.The black sheathing was really hard and did not have any flex to it without breaking apart so I have stripped it back to the point you see in the photos.I don,t really want to go any further and mess with the part that is behind the stator plate.

I don,t really want to cut and re-splice all of the wires to put new sheathing on,but just rapping them in black tape doesn,t seem the best either. Any input on that would be appreciated.

I've used Performix Liquid Electrical Tape with good results. I layer on 3-4 coats. It also waterproofs which is an added bonus. The only unknown is how regrettable using this product will be when I have to dig into the wiring in the future. I'm told (? source reliability) that it strips off like standard vinyl insulation.

You can also get larger diameter heat shrink tubing and use it to replace the brittle plastic tubing. Victor

Rather than cut and splice the wires, you can remove the connectors and replace them with new. You would only lose about 1/2" in length, but you would also be able to put new sheathing on too. A couple sources for those vintage connectors have been posted previously.

$0.02

Roger

Thanks for the input guys.

The more that I have thought about it I might go with what Roger said seeing that it wont wired for lights for now.

Roger's suggestion is certainly the most legit and durable. Mine was more of a quick fix on the fly. Good call.

Thanks Matt.I do appreciate wealth of knowledge and ideas that everyone on here has to offer.

I like the idea of liquid electrical tape because I have never seen or heard of it and would be the best option for what I was originally asking.It sounds pretty handy and I think I will get some to have in the shop.

Thanks again!

Its definitely one of the more useful "tier two" shop chemicals. It comes in a liquid with a brush bottle for application. It also comes in an aerosol spray format (useless for electrical work on bikes). The brush is a bit course for a lot of applications, so a small throwaway paint brush is useful. One of its greatest properties is that it works well an a waterproof sealant. I've used to coat the contact tabs on the condenser on a Dirt Squirt which sees trails with a lot of water and mud. Its held up well. I totally agree with you. This is a great forum! I've learned a ton here.

I have a jar of that too, & like you said it works well with a small throw away brush too. In a pinch, I've even used a q-tip! Victor