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My new '82 1100e is suffering from a bade case of PO (previous owner) syndrome. I noticed the yellow Accel plug wires right off the bat, and guessed that they led to a pair ot Accel coils. I tear into the bike to get everything back up to spec, lift off the tank, and find stock coils at the end of the Accel wires. The worst part is that every one of them is spliced in to the stock wires two inches out from the coil, and wrapped with electrical tape. The only good part was that the PO didn't trim the wires, so there was plenty of length to cut the splices and install the wires properly.
Here's where the tips begin, and there are no pics because I wasn't even sure it would work while I was doing it, so I wasn't really thinking about documentation.
Anyway, I cut the wires and went to work extracing the stock wires from the coils. I had a pick, small falthead screwdriver, needle nose plires, etc, and the job was a pain in the ass. I got it done, but wasn't looking forward to doing it three more times. So I shelf the coils for another day.
Today at the hardware store I picked up a 1' length of 9/32 brass tubing and some grommets that fit sung over the plug wires. Once home, I took my trusty dremel tool with a cutoff wheel (already set-up from slotting screws during my carb rebuild), and cut a 4" lenght of tube, then I cut acorss the open end of the tube, slicing lengthwise down just a hair into the tube, 'notching' the end of the tube. I did this a couple times at different angles to create a make-shift holesaw.
Back to the dremel, I used the cutoff wheel to slice through the mound of epoxy and the old wire so it's flush with the surface of the coil. I found that if you cut if just proud of the surface, you can then use the face of the cutoff wheel as a surface grinder to take off the last sliver.
Back to the holesaw, I chucked it up in my drill, being carefull not to crush the tubing with the drill. Take the end of the holesaw, and push it down into the insulation of the old wires so the tip of the holesaw is down in the hole and the hoel can guide the holesaw. Proceed to use the holesaw to drill down around the outside of the old wire. You may need to stop and clear the 'plug' of old wire from the holesaw or hole a couple of times, but you will eventually get all the way down to the bottom of the hole. Once you get close, you'll feel the old wire 'release' from the walls of the hole, and the drill will speed up. Now you can easily clear the hole of the junk, and all that should be left is some residue stuck to the inside of the hole. I used a small flathead screwdriver to scrape down the sides of the hole, and the stuff came right off.
All three remaining wires came out clean and easy, with no damage to the 'probe' that sticks out of the bottom of the hole. It does help if you guage the depth of the hole along the holesaw so you know how far in you need to go. On my coils, the two holes are different lenght, but you can see the tunnel that makes up the hole is molded into the body of the coil, so I just held the holesaw up next to the coil and eyeballed the depth. You could also measure it, and wrap some tape around the hoelsaw at the correct depth.
On to the wires, I trimmed them to length, then I took the grommets, and sliced them through the middle like a bagel. If you look at each half with the cut side down, it looks just like the mound of epoxy that was there from the factory. So before I installed the wires, I slipped the grommet half over the wires, with the cut end facing the coil. I actually slipped two of them over each wire, in case there was a problem with the first one, I could cut if off and slide down the 2nd for another try.
Anyway, I proceeded to put some silicone sealant on the new wires, not all the way to the end. I left the end dry to keep the connection clean. So you push the wires down into the hole, and any excess silicone builds up in a bead around the wire just outside of the hole. Now simply slide the grommet half into place, hold for a minute or two, and let it dry.
Fairly easy, the tubing was $2 and the grommets were .30/ea, and there was no digging and jabbing and picking your way through 30 years of old wire and epoxy. The end result is water tight, and looks fairly good. Again, no pics, so you just have to take my word for it, but if you want to use your stock coils with new wires, this is the way to go.
Here's where the tips begin, and there are no pics because I wasn't even sure it would work while I was doing it, so I wasn't really thinking about documentation.
Anyway, I cut the wires and went to work extracing the stock wires from the coils. I had a pick, small falthead screwdriver, needle nose plires, etc, and the job was a pain in the ass. I got it done, but wasn't looking forward to doing it three more times. So I shelf the coils for another day.
Today at the hardware store I picked up a 1' length of 9/32 brass tubing and some grommets that fit sung over the plug wires. Once home, I took my trusty dremel tool with a cutoff wheel (already set-up from slotting screws during my carb rebuild), and cut a 4" lenght of tube, then I cut acorss the open end of the tube, slicing lengthwise down just a hair into the tube, 'notching' the end of the tube. I did this a couple times at different angles to create a make-shift holesaw.
Back to the dremel, I used the cutoff wheel to slice through the mound of epoxy and the old wire so it's flush with the surface of the coil. I found that if you cut if just proud of the surface, you can then use the face of the cutoff wheel as a surface grinder to take off the last sliver.
Back to the holesaw, I chucked it up in my drill, being carefull not to crush the tubing with the drill. Take the end of the holesaw, and push it down into the insulation of the old wires so the tip of the holesaw is down in the hole and the hoel can guide the holesaw. Proceed to use the holesaw to drill down around the outside of the old wire. You may need to stop and clear the 'plug' of old wire from the holesaw or hole a couple of times, but you will eventually get all the way down to the bottom of the hole. Once you get close, you'll feel the old wire 'release' from the walls of the hole, and the drill will speed up. Now you can easily clear the hole of the junk, and all that should be left is some residue stuck to the inside of the hole. I used a small flathead screwdriver to scrape down the sides of the hole, and the stuff came right off.
All three remaining wires came out clean and easy, with no damage to the 'probe' that sticks out of the bottom of the hole. It does help if you guage the depth of the hole along the holesaw so you know how far in you need to go. On my coils, the two holes are different lenght, but you can see the tunnel that makes up the hole is molded into the body of the coil, so I just held the holesaw up next to the coil and eyeballed the depth. You could also measure it, and wrap some tape around the hoelsaw at the correct depth.
On to the wires, I trimmed them to length, then I took the grommets, and sliced them through the middle like a bagel. If you look at each half with the cut side down, it looks just like the mound of epoxy that was there from the factory. So before I installed the wires, I slipped the grommet half over the wires, with the cut end facing the coil. I actually slipped two of them over each wire, in case there was a problem with the first one, I could cut if off and slide down the 2nd for another try.
Anyway, I proceeded to put some silicone sealant on the new wires, not all the way to the end. I left the end dry to keep the connection clean. So you push the wires down into the hole, and any excess silicone builds up in a bead around the wire just outside of the hole. Now simply slide the grommet half into place, hold for a minute or two, and let it dry.
Fairly easy, the tubing was $2 and the grommets were .30/ea, and there was no digging and jabbing and picking your way through 30 years of old wire and epoxy. The end result is water tight, and looks fairly good. Again, no pics, so you just have to take my word for it, but if you want to use your stock coils with new wires, this is the way to go.
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