SPAGHETTI JUNCTION

Nothing for, it was under the dash board I would go. I started with the really thick bundle of plastic sheathed cabling that would connect with terminals A & B, that emerged from the electric box, under the dash. I stripped off the sheath exposing all the cables and gently teased them out to their full length and it looked as if pretty much all the cables were long enough to reach their intended destination.

I started with the ignition switch, which had the same 1/4 spade connectors as the bike switch, so that would mean just swapping switches. I had though, spent along time with a magnifying glass and ruler tracing where each wire came from and with a multi meter on 'BUZZ' I worked out which cable connected to which terminal on the switch, that was relatively easy.

 

The lighting wire to the speedo and all the connectors for the tacho quickly connected, no problem.

Next was the eight warning lights, again I had worked out which coloured cable went to which light. This time I would have to change the connectors to 1/4 spade from the 3/16 ones on the end of each cable, a couple of times I forgot to slip the insulating sleeve on before crimping the connector, but fortunately there was just enough spare wire to do it again, with insulating sleeve in place. Six of the lights are grouped fairly close together and the wires reached the warning lights connectors without difficulty. I did have to extend the wires to the two indicator warning lights as they were placed either side of the steering wheel.

The only item left to connect from this bundle is the switch for the Hazard Warning Indicators, but I've left this for the time being and concentrated on tidying up the cables by stuffing them into the split, corrugated tubing, the above photo shows the first few inches inside the tube.

 At last all the cables were in and the tube was cable tied every few inches to prevent any escapes, a final cable tie secured it all to the cross chassis rail and connectors A & B were pushed together.  Lighting and start switches are next on the agenda, but at least I have begun to tame Spaghetti Junction.

NO MORE GUESSING

It was time for 'Fuel Gauge Sender' to be fitted. This bit of kit comprised a plastic float, some long length of stiff wire and a circular disc with the mystery boxy part attached underneath, I've no idea how it works and holes drilled around the rim, oh, I nearly forgot, a circular cork gasket.

 

The tank had to be removed so that I can access the rear of the dash board for when I start wiring up, ( next job, can't put it off any longer ) this made life easier, as the area where the sender was to fitted had to ground smooth as the propellor pattern would prevent a fuel tight seal. I decided where I was going to fit the sender, drew a circle around the gasket and set to with a, not to aggressive, flap wheel on the angle grinder and when I was happy that the surface within the circle was flat, I drew another circle around the inside of the gasket, dot punched and drilled just inside this circle. A hack saw blade in my jigsaw joined up the holes and small flap wheel in the electric drill, smoothed it out .

I marked the first fixing hole, drilled and fitted a countersunk 4mm riv-nut. I find it more accurate to firmly attache an item by one screw, before drilling the rest of the holes, this usually results in them all lining up accurately and this is what I now did.

There came with the sender a guide as to the distance between the float and mystery box, the length was dependent on the depth of the tank. The two stiff bits of wire were clipped together with three little clips and adjusted to give a length 165mm, I snipped of the excess. The wires were then soldered together, ensuring that the float was at the correct angle.

Gasket goo was applied to both sides of the cork gasket and the float was inserted into the hole and the top plate lined up with the holes in the gasket and top of the tank and gradually the six littlebolts  were evenly tightened down. Dash board here I come

WHEELWISE

The second fishtail has been successfully drilled and it was time to order my wheels, in the knowledge that it would take about a couple of months for them to be made.

A trip to Wheelwise Engineering in Cowfold Sussex with a chum of mine, was arranged for Monday and aluminium rims, stainless spokes, hubs, tyres, inner-tubes and rim tape, all times three, were placed on order with Steve. Payment for parts was made leaving just the labour aspect to pay when the wheels are ready.

As we were leaving, I asked Steve if he could recommend a hostelry and he did. The Plough at Lower Beeding Nr. Horsham. He didn't mention though that it was a real bikers pub. The landlord had a beautiful Triton and a Bonneville standing outside in the car park, sparkling in the sunshine. Inside, in the fireplace, was a Vincent Comet, the single cylinder one, magnificent. On the other side of the room, sitting on a table was a Francis Barnet in totally original condition. The photos are not of the best as thay were taken on my phone.

The food was equally excellent and sitting outside in the warm sunlight, eating  great food and admiring the bikes finished off a successful outing and I seriously suggest you try out this pub if you are ever down that part of the world.