The Hodaka Club Forum

Just a little rant here. Please get a good impact driver and a good set of screwdrivers. I just finished drilling off 3 case screws on my Dirt Squirt because they were so buggered up. Frustrating, time consuming and costly. It seems that almost every bike I get is this way. And please, if the screw is buggered do NOT put it back in, get a new one.
I had an impact driver from Harbor Freight but it was not good and broke in short order, got a good one from NAPA. I Also got a set of Vessel JIS screwdrivers, expensive but I love them.

That’s my rant.
Bob

One of the top Hodaka tuners I ever knew used T-handled screwdrivers mostly.

Bob, you mentioned you got some JIS screw drivers, you did not mention the size that you purchased, its important to have the correct size or design when working with Hodaka Case screws. Bruce

Bruce,
I bought a set of 4. I think this one in the ebay link below is the one I use for case screws. It fits perfectly and does not slip. My only complaint is that the tip is a little to magnetic and drives me nuts sometimes.

VESSEL Megadora Through Driver Screwdriver 930 +3X150 P.3X150 MADE IN JAPAN

Thanks for the tip. The Harbor Freight one is priced nicely but the reviews and your testimony has scared me away. Curious as to which NAPA impact driver you chose- is it one of these manual ones?

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/BK_7769059

https://www.napaonline.com/en/p/SER1140

My driver looks similar to the first one but I paid more like the price of the second one.
The Harbor Freight driver unit was ok but the bits rounded off instantly.

I got my impact driver from a local independent shop when I first started restoring a 1979 Yamaha 650SX. It’s been an invaluable tool!!! Victor

Mine is a MAC tool impact, hardest thing is finding good impact bits. Vessal makes impact bits and I have only used them a couple of times so I can't attest to durability. But so far so good. As to the buggered screws, do not put the old ones back in, do find and install the correct ones. Will make future work much easier and maybe the future owner a little happier.

Future owner??? LOL!!! Victor

You angling for that ride, Thrown?

Its my opinion that after using an impact driver, for so many years a better job can be achieved with a battery powered 1/4 impact driver, that you can take and install screws with much faster, but please don,t over torque, turn the impact unit down to lets say "8", its cuts down on miss using the driver. Also again make sure you are buy the proper size driver bits when you do. And get good ones, won,t strip out or wear down as fast. Replace all screws with new ones each time, cheap insurance. Bruce Young

Nope, not hovering for any new rides, but I have had to undo a lot of dpo issues, stripped screw heads are always a pain to deal with. I've had to become resourceful to get some out.

I feel your pain, Thrown. I have a motor on the bench right now. I've drilled the three stripped out screws until the heads popped off and I still can't get the cases to budge. I had to walk away before I got crazy with a hammer.

I replaced all my case bolts when rebuilding. Adding them to the over all project cost is next to nothing. I put mine in with a cordless drill set to the lowest impact setting. On mine it goes from 5-21. So I set it at 5. Never had a bolt accidentally loosen up and never have issues taking them off again.

I keep any of the old bolts as spares which do not show signs of galling or head stripping. And I like to keep them on a sheet of cardboard with the case outline drawn on and the correct lengths in the correct holes for easy identification. Works rather well and I just hang the cardboard on hooks on the wall! Victor

You want to make sure you have all the screws out, sometimes they hide under the grease and dirt. Also if the motor has been apart, it may have been reassembled with a hardening sealer between the cases, which can make it fun. Have you got a case splitting tool? You could make one if you need one, or there are universal ones available online.

Thanks thrown. I have a home grown one ala the "Splitting the Cases..." tech article. It simply won't budge the cases. There is a little gloop compressed out at the seam that is hard as a rock. Epoxy? Who knows. The case screws were so roached out I can believe anything at this point. I'm leaving it is soaking in my parts bath until the proper Zen calmness takes over my desire to go absolutely ape$h*t with a torch and hammer.

Bruce, I do use a battery powered driver for case screws but I break them loose with an impact driver first. When installing them I use the power driver on the lowest setting then tighten up by hand so I can get a good feel on the tightness.
I do not use any sealer on the outer cases and I never have any leaks. I figure if the sealer is oozing out on the outside it’s doing the same on the inside. I don’t want that stuff floating around inside my motor. I opened up a ‘72 Honda XL 250 that had so much sealer in it that the oil filter screen was completely clogged with it. That bike was a nightmare of DPO issues.

If it's that hard you may have to soak it in something more industrial, like Acetone. Something that will soften the material.

Good call, Thrown. I'm long on acetone for some reason. In it goes.

Matt! What’s this case splitter you speak of? Is it something from a previous issue of the Resonator? A pointer to it available? Victor

Hi Victor, It was a tech article on the SH website called "Break the Case Wide Open" perhaps published by Marv Foster (help me out here guys). It might be published on the HPI site. I will do a bit of checking or perhaps someone has the real McCoy. If all else fails, I will take a few pictures of mine and describe its construct and function.

Matt, Can you send to me a contact e-mail address, need to ask a question about stator rewinding. Bruce Young [email protected] Thanks

Matt, how's the "soak" working? You may have to score the glue to get any penetration.

Sure thing Bruce. I've dabbled with rewinding a coil with success - at least in terms of achieving correct readings. I got the enamel coated wire at an electrical supply house here and then it was a simple reverse-engineering exercise. I have not run the coil on a working magneto - yet but it tested to spec on the VOM. Hi Thrown. Great suggestion. I was hoping that submerging the case with the splitter under tension would allow better penetration as the mystery adhesive softened but no joy so far. I will try scoring next. Bruce, check PM. MY email address is also published on the members only directory on our club website. Thanks fellas!!

For myself I don't replace perfectly good clean case screws? I see no reason to if they are clean and not distorted usually the threads are not stripped as they are screwed into aluminum cased. Building a engine for others new screws are used. ------------Clarence