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My thanks to Ulu (Greg) who cane and helped me. 1) how to solder. Learned what tinning is, tat a ball of solder will stay on the soldered tip for application. 2) how to make a secure joint, A, wrap a snake wire around the new joint, then solder it all, 3) how to make a wiring diagram for a new rewire. He had the specification diagram taped on a board, over that tracing paper. Then drew the new wiring diagram on the tracing paper. Genius. Always something to learn. The above probably known by most, but exciting for me. Now, with his instructions I can complete my Sportster. Photo is curren status. Will take today off to get new required parts.

One of those issues, I just love my city and their inspectors. They will come out and discuss what you want/need and not actually charge you for a inspection fee. If you are building a new house, yes there will be paid inspections along the way. If you are working on the garage or a remodel, they will come out payment free and offer advice ... they just want you to do a good job. I LOVE TEXAS!

When I changed to the Redline MT fluid, it was a MAJOR improvement over the NAPA GL1 oil. FWIW... My issue was a crunchy 1-2 shift, especially cold. The Redline oil completely solved it

My buddy before he passed gave me his nice MIG unit so a certain family member would not give it away for a quick drug fix.....I have not so much as powered it up but did buy and assemble a very nice cart for it to reside. Maybe one day I will weld with it but I will say it will not be car body panels...I may use it when I modify a door on the barn coming up soon. I have other means to fry that fish which is a car body.... BUT...….silver solder is easy repair process that requires no expensive equipment.

Yes sir you are correct, I had it exactly backwards. I had to look it up ... I was thinking those old lincoln 225 arc welders were DC and modern migs were AC, exactly opposite.

Too bad ebay sellers are now so greedy...three name plates on there ..$150.00 to over $300.00

If you have an oxy/act torch, you may be able to do it with a silver bearing brazeing rod. Won't corrode, lower melt point than SS, will polish up, different color but maybe passable. Plenty strong as it's used on high pressure AC and even hydraulics. And, high silver content makes it wet out and flow easily. Not cheap though, I think 3 sticks about 24" long were 12 bucks from eba.

Took the car out this morning. Checked first to see if the slightly thinner oil might have leaked a bit but everything was normal. Took off and shifting with the oil cool was the same as yesterday when the oil was well warmed up. Shifting was smooth and quiet going 1st to 2nd as well as 2nd to 3rd even before the oil warmed up. I have to say I am very pleased with the Red Line MTL 75/80W synthetic transmission oil. I have no affiliation with the company. I now plan on changing the oil in my '48 Dodge and '53 Plymouth as I bought enough to do all three. '53 has always needed to be shifted extra gently going 2nd to 3rd. It could be worn syncos or needs a better oil. I have been running the GL-5 80/90W in it for years. Transmission also has over a 100,000 miles with no attention except for a rear seal replacement. I will report on that transmission oil change as well but it might be a bit down the road.

It's gotta stay clean. If it gets "white rust" you must toss it. If it's fat stuff, you might scrape it. I have a lead pot for bullet making, and when the lead melts, all that corrosion comes loose. You drop some wax in the pot and it fluxes the lead, causing all the dross to rise so you can skim it. Any corroded solder goes there, for casting informal slugs and shot. Corroded solder is insulated from heat by the corrosion, and so heat control becomes problematic. Otherwise, the flux brings out any corrosion when it wets out.

@pflaming That little repair we made on the point's wire? I had to do that on every wire to the main harness plug on my boat motor. There's 13 wires, close together, and it was a chore. I didn't heat-shrink each wire though. When I was done I over-molded everything with plumber's 5-min epoxy putty.

I don't think I've ever soldered stainless, but it's normally just a matter of getting things really clean, then getting the heat where it's needed. I've soldered copper pipe and copper wire, steel to steel, and copper/brass to steel. I've soldered my wire framed eyeglasses, which I used to break frequently as a kid. I've soldered little jewelry of unknown alloys. I recently bought some stuff for soldering aluminum, but I haven't tried it yet. The trickiest soldering I ever did was in a gas station in Layton Utah. The throttle cable of my Yamaha had broken at the twist end. The guy had solder but no soldering iron. I managed to heat the ferrule with a BIC lighter, and poke out the broken end with the remaining (trimmed) cable. I had pre-tinned the cable, and it soldered instantly. When it's done right, it happens fast.

I recently swapped out my rear axle on my 53 from 3.90 gear s to 3.55.... previously 50 mph was the sweet spot ... now its 60 mph ... when I finally get a Over Drive trans ... 70 mph will be easy

Here is the door panels I made to go with the seat

ah...no fair....this is a temp fixture...….

The Link Directory tab is your friend...

little update....plastic and wire in place....father's day gift arrived a bit early.....

My experience is with the B-W R 10 Overdrive from the 1950s & 60s. The cable is used to block out the Overdrive from engaging. It should only be moved while the car is stationary. And the only reason for its existence is the freewheel sprag clutch in the Overdrive. Without locking the Overdrive in direct drive (pulling the cable) parking the car in gear does not prevent it from rolling. Best to use the parking brake when you have an Overdrive. Next one of my pet peeves is not using the Overdrive wiring as designed. The Throttle Switch and Relay are vital to keeping your (now days) very expensive Overdrive in good shape. The governor is wired to signal the solenoid to shift the Overdrive (both up and down) the relay connects not only the throttle switch (for kick down) but (and this is the important part) the ignition coil to momentarily interrupt it thus releasing torque on the driveline. The interruption is so slight that the driver never notices it, but the Overdrive does and that keeps it happy. The Laycock de Normanville Overdrives on foreign cars had a switch which engaged it but no ignition interruption feature. So you had to use the clutch or endure one hell of a clunk with the attendant mechanical anguish. They were not "automatic" like the B-W. When wired and used as designed the B-W R 10 is a real joy to drive. First gear in a three speed is just to get you moving, second was intended for town driving 25-30 mph. High gear was for the open road around 55 mph. Final drive gear ratios were chosen based on this type of operation. When the Interstate Highway System was being built during the Eisenhower Administration the days of the 3 speed transmission and 4.11 gears were numbered. To reduce engine speeds and still provide good performance meant either a 4 speed with a lower numerical final drive ratio or an Automatic Overdrive. 4 speed transmissions were more commonly seen in trucks and they had a reputation for being awful. It was thought drivers would not buy them. An Automatic Overdrive didn't require shifting one more time and the same final drive ratio could be used. In a 3 speed or a 4 speed of the time high gear was direct drive. An overdrive top gear had to wait for the 5 speed transmission. Unfortunately for us in the 21st century the Overdrive transmission is still connected to non-synchro first gear three speeds. 70 mph highway speeds are just not obtainable with 4.1 gears even with an Overdrive. So we change the final drive ratio to something like a 3.73 or even lower (with an axle swap). Now first gear becomes a lot more important because you've got a real mountain to climb. That's why the B-W T-5 has become so popular, they are cheap and readily available. However, I can't bring myself to cut a hole in the floor of my car for a shifter, so I have an Overdrive.

Very helpful. Thank you! I disconnected the battery many times while trying to get the wiring right (cross-referenced post below) that it most likely reset it then. Good to know a solid solution. Thanks again!