1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

A forum for stories, pics and updates of your resto's. Be it a barn find, Grampas hand me down or a bike being brought back to it's former glory.If you are restoring it, show us your stuff!

Moderators: Brant, Sagebrush, Forum Moderators

Post Reply
User avatar
BikeMaine
Gold Member
Gold Member
Posts: 1105
Joined: Sun Feb 07, 2016 7:57 pm
Location: Maine, U.S.A.

Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#571

Post by BikeMaine »

Great work Brother! And I never thanked you for the full-length photos, it looks fantastic. The more I see it, the better it looks, great attention to detail.
The olive drab, flat paint against the darker color, the red, the yellow, very good choices.
I also enjoy seeing the progress on your shelter., (I really enjoy being able to view all your photos finally, as long as I'm on my phone at home)

Weird weather, we had it below zero the other day, Wednesday is supposed to be in the 60's!
Kevin
1982 GL1100A
User avatar
toolbox
Titanium Member
Titanium Member
Posts: 489
Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2016 1:54 am
Location: Montana

Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#572

Post by toolbox »

BikeMaine wrote:Great work Brother! And I never thanked you for the full-length photos, it looks fantastic. The more I see it, the better it looks, great attention to detail.
The olive drab, flat paint against the darker color, the red, the yellow, very good choices.
I also enjoy seeing the progress on your shelter., (I really enjoy being able to view all your photos finally, as long as I'm on my phone at home)

Weird weather, we had it below zero the other day, Wednesday is supposed to be in the 60's!
Thanks man! I wouldn't mind trading weather right about now...it was -4* F this morning :x . Speaking of crappy weather... Yesterday I had the day off, and the kids were at school for (most of) the day. Not the whole day because the roads were so bad there was a 2 hour delayed start. The last few days we first got hit with close to 12" of new snow, and then the temps dropped...I think the high yesterday was a whopping 12*. Now, I'd been planning on taking that time on my day off and dedicating it to working on this thing for weeks...the universe may not have agreed, but I was determined to press on. Sometimes I have more determination than smarts :lol: . So, I bundled up and got to it.

On the lid, I had to make a decision about what to do with the switch panel...idea 1 (that I'd already gotten pretty deep into) was to make the lid fit. Idea 2 was to just fill the gap under switch panel. Oh, and on that epoxy stick--it was just old. I bought one from the auto parts store, and it was fine...more like smelly silly putty than what I had before :lol: . I did a proof of concept test with it...and it DID work. Problem was it took the switch plate, and made it stand out in a way I didn't like. It didn't look like an integrated part, but rather something just sort of stuck on there. So, back to idea 1 :lol: .

So, I put one more layer of plastic on it to fill minor holes and things, and started to sculpt it.

Image

I found a spot under my porch with the least amount of snow on the property lol. So, I outlined the switch plate so I could see where it really had to stay flat, and just worked around that... Originally, I'd squared up the outside edges, which made the height difference really stand out...so I sculpted them way down and rounded them out. Same on the bottom edge... Lots of careful sanding later, this was the result...

Image

Then, I marked up the holes for the bolts that hold in the instruments and punched them out (two steps).

Image

I bought some little cap head screws and nylock nuts yesterday...I figured nylocks would be a good way to go since I can keep them from backing off, without having to put too much pressure on the lid. I can use as much as I want... And of course, I wanted to see what the instruments would look like with the bolts in...

Image

I think they'll look good. The final piece of cutting/drilling was to carve out a spot for that one switch that just wouldn't clear the lid...I put the plate on and marked it up. Used the Wemmel to carefully carve out a little notch for it.

Image

The result...it works party2

Image

Image

So, finally able to install the switch cover :). Then, a coat of primer for the back...

Image

I didn't think the can was spraying smoothly enough...it's one of those "spray from any direction" cans, which means it's impossible to clear the nozzle :roll: . So, rather than worry about using it on the front, I just bought another can. And...there it is--

Image

As long as both the piece and the paint are warm, you actually can run outside and spray paint in this weather...you just have to bring it back inside right away. Gotta say...I'm looking forward to my house no longer smelling like an auto body shop :drunk .

So...hows it all come together? Well, here's the profile view...you can see how the extra height of the lid isn't obnoxious.

Image

And the switch panel is a nice fit now...

Image

And, here it is...basically how it will look when finished (well, use your imagination on the rivets and black paint :lol: )

Image

The warning sticker that's going on the top is based on one I saw on the instrument panel of an F80 Shooting Star, but it's been adapted to the bike. Today, I'm hoping to get the color coat on it...then it'll be time to install the switches, instruments, and wire it all up. Whatever imperfections it has at this point, I don't really care...I'm ready to move on :lol: I do think it will look pretty good though. Kind of excited to see it all lit up... So, nearing completion on the lid, which would really put me in the home stretch. The shelter paint job is going to be time consuming to lay out, but should go ok I think. Biggest problem is just trying to do this stuff in the middle of winter :shock: .
Last edited by toolbox on Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:21 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
BikeMaine
Gold Member
Gold Member
Posts: 1105
Joined: Sun Feb 07, 2016 7:57 pm
Location: Maine, U.S.A.

Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#573

Post by BikeMaine »

I hear you, I shoot competitive archery and when I make my arrows up, I spray the carbon shafts first. I step out under the carport and spray paint them, then duck inside and keep it warm by the woodstove to dry.
Kevin
1982 GL1100A
User avatar
toolbox
Titanium Member
Titanium Member
Posts: 489
Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2016 1:54 am
Location: Montana

Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#574

Post by toolbox »

BikeMaine wrote:I hear you, I shoot competitive archery and when I make my arrows up, I spray the carbon shafts first. I step out under the carport and spray paint them, then duck inside and keep it warm by the woodstove to dry.
That's really funny...I was doing the same thing with my lid lol. Who needs IR drying lamps when you have a glass door woodstove :lol: .
User avatar
BikeMaine
Gold Member
Gold Member
Posts: 1105
Joined: Sun Feb 07, 2016 7:57 pm
Location: Maine, U.S.A.

Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#575

Post by BikeMaine »

toolbox wrote:
BikeMaine wrote:I hear you, I shoot competitive archery and when I make my arrows up, I spray the carbon shafts first. I step out under the carport and spray paint them, then duck inside and keep it warm by the woodstove to dry.
That's really funny...I was doing the same thing with my lid lol. Who needs IR drying lamps when you have a glass door woodstove :lol: .
Exactly, spray a coat, run inside to stove, slowly turn it in front of super-hot glass, looking like a chicken turning on a rotisserie......
Bake it dry, run outside and give it another coat, then repeat.
Kevin
1982 GL1100A
User avatar
toolbox
Titanium Member
Titanium Member
Posts: 489
Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2016 1:54 am
Location: Montana

Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#576

Post by toolbox »

BikeMaine wrote:
toolbox wrote:
BikeMaine wrote:I hear you, I shoot competitive archery and when I make my arrows up, I spray the carbon shafts first. I step out under the carport and spray paint them, then duck inside and keep it warm by the woodstove to dry.
That's really funny...I was doing the same thing with my lid lol. Who needs IR drying lamps when you have a glass door woodstove :lol: .
Exactly, spray a coat, run inside to stove, slowly turn it in front of super-hot glass, looking like a chicken turning on a rotisserie......
Bake it dry, run outside and give it another coat, then repeat.
When I was doing this stuff, I had the thought that if could just borrow a couple of full days from August to work on this thing, I'd have it done and on the road :lol: . Alas, this is Montana in February...and I'm busy scurrying in and out of the house with freshly painted MC parts, or working outside bundled up to the point it looks like I'm about to tell Houston that the Eagle has landed :oops: . No sign of it letting up either...we should have a high above single digits, so that's something. When I got to work this morning, there was ice dust blowing through the air...it looked like glitter under the street lights. Beautiful, but slightly harder to enjoy with my eyelashes trying to freeze shut :lol: .

Still pressing on, and made some good progress last night. Got a color coat on the lid...tried to use a brand new can of paint, first on the back...and a good thing too. I'm still not sure what went wrong, but it blew this funky chunky paint on it...like it was textured :x . Sooo...I let that dry, and used an another can for the front. It came out fine...

Image

Also painted all the rivets and bolt heads...I don't know what they finish those bolts with, but if left exposed I've found they tend to rust so they all get painted now.

Image

Also painted the switch plate...I had to hog out two of the holes just a tiny bit. I probably could have forced them, but that's not a good idea with them going through the filler. Perfect fit now...

Image

Also had to fix the wire on the back of it...at some point with all the messing around I did with this, the wire snapped off the back.

Image

I melted the solder and pulled the stub of the old wire out. Soldered it back in, and put a heat shrink on it to give it some strain protection.

Image

And then...it was time to start assembly :). Switch plate bolted in...

Image

Switches installed, bolted in the instruments.

Image

And then it was time to start on the wiring...

Image

First thing I wanted to do was get the lighting straightened out. I decided that (at least for the time being) that last switch on the end would be an on/off for the instrument lights...default is on, but if I want I can turn them off. I got them sorted out enough to do a quick test anyway...

Image

And...there it is--

Image

And with the lights off...

Image

It works party2

So, next up I'll be making it official, and cleaning it all up. I'm going to need four wires to connect between the shelter and the bike, so I'm thinking about hacking a set of plugs out of that old wire harness to make the connection. I'll need 12V hot, ground, high beam hot, and output to the relay. Wiring the switches should be pretty straightforward.

Also noticed in one of my other pics, the switch plate didn't look completely flat...it actually looks really good bolted down.

Image

The lid was kind of bendy before with all that metal cut out, but is actually pretty rigid with everything bolted in. I'm pretty booked tonight, so I don't know how much (if anything) I'll get done, but maybe I can work on the wiring some more.
Last edited by toolbox on Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
BikeMaine
Gold Member
Gold Member
Posts: 1105
Joined: Sun Feb 07, 2016 7:57 pm
Location: Maine, U.S.A.

Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#577

Post by BikeMaine »

Looks great!

The reason it's so cold in Montana is because we had 61 degrees here yesterday..... Broke records all over New England yesterday.
Kevin
1982 GL1100A
User avatar
toolbox
Titanium Member
Titanium Member
Posts: 489
Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2016 1:54 am
Location: Montana

Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#578

Post by toolbox »

BikeMaine wrote:Looks great!

The reason it's so cold in Montana is because we had 61 degrees here yesterday..... Broke records all over New England yesterday.
:shock: :shock: :shock: . Wow...yea, it looks like that pushed the arctic air mass over my way :lol: .
Made a little more progress last night... So, I needed a way to hook up multiple power and ground wires...what I was looking for was a little power strip with just a few screw points on it. Checked a couple of places locally, but could't find anything. One of the disadvantages of living in a small town is having a very limited selection of stuff to choose from...I'm sure I could have found what I wanted on Amazon, but I'm impatient and what I ended up doing was cheap lol. So, not finding what I wanted, I just made my own little power and ground bus.

Had this strip of 1/8" thick stock left over from some project or other...bag brackets maybe? Last thing I used it for was scraping body filler lol.

Image

I measured it out, drilled it up, and put sheet metal screws in it...

Image

Then, just sliced the shanks of the screws off so they were flush with the bottom...

Image

Sliced in half and trimmed down, they're ready to go.

Image

I got some 10# velcro to attach them to the attitude indicator...that way they can be removed if I ever need to take it all apart. Then, it was just a lot of time soldering extensions on wires that needed it, putting ring terminals and shrink tubing on the ends, and hooking it all up. It's not the neatest job I've ever done, but it's functional. I could have made it a lot more pretty, but I'm really ready to be done with this lid thing :lol:

Image

Image

So, that wraps up the wiring for the instrument lighting...oh, and I also used velcro to attach the 5V converter to the side of the AI. So, up next is doing the wiring for the switches...like I was saying earlier, I need to have four wires to connect the shelter to the bike...12V hot, ground, 12V high beam switched, and output to the relay. When I was looking for that bus thing earlier, I found a 12" trailer extension for $5...looked like it would work. Figured it came with male and female connectors, and a foot of wire...well, turns out it's not as long as I was thinking.

Image

It might be 12" total, but it's not 12" of wire...either way, I wanted more. Fortunately I have another chunk of trailer wire from some other project that I had in the garage. Hooking up the switches will just be a lot of small wires and ring terminals...I'll probably have a little time to work on it tonight. You may have also noticed that the lock for the lower lid isn't there...

Image

The little clip that retains it in the lid is missing...it didn't come with the bike. I should still have the lock though, so I ordered the little retaining clip today. It's backordered, but at least it's still available from Honda...supposed to be here early next month, so the lock will go in then.

After the wiring is complete for the shelter and bike, it'll be moving on to the shelter itself...first thing will be to conjoin the two halves of it together. Then...the real fun begins :lol:
Last edited by toolbox on Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:23 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
toolbox
Titanium Member
Titanium Member
Posts: 489
Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2016 1:54 am
Location: Montana

Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#579

Post by toolbox »

More progress... Had to put on the 'ol thinkin' cap in order to figure out how to wire everything up on the switch plate, but it's now complete...

Image

Moved on to attaching the pigtail onto the bike...everything went great until...it wasn't :lol: . So, all along I'd been planning on using the hot "accessory" terminal from the fuse box as my switched power for the switch plate hookup. With that in mind, I put a ring terminal on my "12V switched hot" wire, and hooked it up. It was pretty late at this point, but I really wanted to test it all out...

Image

The good news--everything works! The switches all function the way I'd designed...the lighting is all good. I can switch the side lights between manual control and the high beam switch.

The bad news--the accessory terminal isn't switched!!! :x . As soon as I hooked it up (before I switched on the bike), the internal lighting of the instruments came on...it was kind of a "what the?" type moment lol. Now, all along I'd just assumed that the accessory terminal is switched...I mean, really what kind of accessories would you want to wire in that wouldn't be switched? A cigarette lighter is literally the only thing I can think of that you would hook up with constant power...what did people use to hook up all the extra lights, the tape deck, and the CB? Grrrr.... So, because I'd been planning on using that power source all along, now I need to find another one.

I pulled the bike out of the garage as far as I could without putting it in a snow drift so I could poke around the front of the bike, and there really isn't anything easy to just plug into.

Image

If I'd known this was the case, I would have strung another wire in from the headlight... Oh well. So, I guess my plan now is to probably get back into the headlight and maybe tap into the running light circuit or something. If I'm lucky, I might be able to fish it through the tube that carried the high beam hot back into the fuse box area.

I made all the other connections, so all that's left is that 12V wire...then the side light and lid wiring will be complete.

Image

Moving on to the shelter, I decided to reinforce the gaps between the halves with a couple of steel plates, and then just epoxy them into place. I'd saved the cutouts from the old lid, so with only very minor trimming I had a couple of pieces...I used my anvil *cough* railroad track *cough* to form them so they conform to the shelter.

Image

Image

Then, I just used big copious globs of PC7 to secure them to the shelter.

Image

Image

I installed the lid to make sure it would clear the plate, and it does...just barely, but enough that it works fine. As of last night, the epoxy is fully cured...the shelter is now *very* solid. So, today I can start using body filler to fill and feather the gaps.

Oh, and I also cut out the warning sticker I made for the lid...like I said, it's patterned after one I saw in an F80. Mostly I just wanted to make reminder to myself about shutting the fuel off, but now it looks way better than a sticker that says "Turn the gas off, dummy!" :lol:

Image

And with that, the lid as an assembly is now complete...

Image

So, hopefully today I can get started on the bodywork on the shelter, and (if I'm lucky) find a way to get a power wire where I need it so I can wrap up (har har) the wiring for the shelter plug...
Last edited by toolbox on Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Sagebrush
Run Executive
Run Executive
Posts: 6465
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2007 10:35 pm
My Album: http://www.ngwclub.com/gallery/v/wingmans/album269/
Location: Raleigh, NC

Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#580

Post by Sagebrush »

If you loosen the fuse block can you easily tap a switched wire from one of the terminals, before the fuse would be best. Would only need to add an inline fuse for the lid electrics then.
Dean Spalding
Raleigh, NC

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein

'82 Yellow GL1100
'81 Blue GL1100

My Gallery
My 1100 Build Thread
User avatar
toolbox
Titanium Member
Titanium Member
Posts: 489
Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2016 1:54 am
Location: Montana

Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#581

Post by toolbox »

Sagebrush wrote:If you loosen the fuse block can you easily tap a switched wire from one of the terminals, before the fuse would be best. Would only need to add an inline fuse for the lid electrics then.
I actually had the same idea...I took a look at the fuse block that came with my old spaghetti harness to see how feasible it would be. The wires are crimped into brass terminals that form the bottom of the clips for the fuses, and I didn't see an easy way to hack into them. The wires don't have any slack under there either :/. I'll take another look at it, but this weekend when I was messing with it I didn't see any easy way tap any of them...it would probably require unraveling a bunch of tape off of them, and then just picking a spot to hack into, probably further back. I honestly don't know what Honda was thinking on that one :oops: I'll have a little time after work tonight, so I'll see what I can figure out :)
User avatar
toolbox
Titanium Member
Titanium Member
Posts: 489
Joined: Sun Feb 28, 2016 1:54 am
Location: Montana

Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#582

Post by toolbox »

Had some time last night for bike stuff... Decided to see how hard it would be to tap one of the hot wires in the headlight for my switch panel. So, cut out the zip ties and started digging around...was able to use the last of my Honda bullet connectors off the old wire harness so I wasn't actually hacking anything...here it was in mid-install.

Image

I was able to run my wire back through the tube the high beam hot wire was strung through, but I had to pull it most of the way out of the frame. Which actually worked out fine, since I was able to rout it in a way that I thought was better than before. Then, on to making the final connections...

Image

When using heat shrink tubing in cramped quarters, I've found it takes a little bit of finesse to only get the heat on the wire you want...the heat gun shoots a pretty tight blast of air, but it can melt thing really fast if you're not careful. Having not been that careful in the past, I actually am quite careful now :lol: . Heat gun makes a smashing hand warmer too...though again, caution is advised :lol: . And here's the wiring all cleaned up and ready to go...

Image

Wanted to have a little bit of daylight for sanding, so I moved on to the body work on the shelter next...

Taped it up--

Image

First layer on...

Image

Image

And sanded down...

Image

Image

I got a second layer on and sanded down, but it was like 8:30 at night and pitch black outside...and I'd had about enough of sitting on a five gallon bucket in the dark freezing while I scrub the shelter with sandpaper for one night :lol: . It's really close though...only a couple of little touchups to do. I wanted to feather it out quite a bit because the two halves don't come together quite perfectly (I'd be surprised if any of them do), so it's not just a matter of filling a gap--there's a very slight edge that needs to be run out a ways. Anyway, it should look good when it's done.

Finally, wanted to make sure that the whole thing would install and hook up easily...so, there it is--

Image

Wires have plenty of room to hook up (they're a little long if anything). Everything functions the way it should. The shelter is easy to install and remove. I tried to get a picture of all the instruments on together, but that might have to wait until I use a real camera...with the snow and the headlight it's not great, but you get the idea anyway...

Image

I tossed the seat on, and sat on it for a sec...I was wondering if the lights might be distracting, but they're really not. I am glad I wired in the dimmer though, so I can adjust it however I want. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. I should be able to finish the body work on the shelter tonight I would think...then I just need to figure out how I'm going to get primer on it :oops: .
Last edited by toolbox on Mon Jun 11, 2018 9:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Sagebrush
Run Executive
Run Executive
Posts: 6465
Joined: Wed Aug 15, 2007 10:35 pm
My Album: http://www.ngwclub.com/gallery/v/wingmans/album269/
Location: Raleigh, NC

Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#583

Post by Sagebrush »

I see you found a good source for your instrument lighting. Should you ever want to add accessories and want the power switched with the ignition you can double stick a short terminal block on the top of the gas tank, one for power and one for ground. Run the power to the terminal block from the battery to a relay that is switched by the running lights power and then from the relay to the power terminal block. For the ground block just run an appropriately sized wire from the negative side of the battery to the ground block. I have done this successfully on four different bikes. It makes is easy to run power and ground wires from any add on powered accessory. I usually have in line fuses for each accessory. The terminal blocks stay nice and dry under the seat, I have found the location is a good as under the shelter.
Dean Spalding
Raleigh, NC

"Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein

'82 Yellow GL1100
'81 Blue GL1100

My Gallery
My 1100 Build Thread
User avatar
5speed
Honored Life Member
Honored Life Member
Posts: 5312
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2015 2:37 pm
Location: Nova Scotia Canada

Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#584

Post by 5speed »

that looks so bad... :orange
1982 1100 standard. (sold)
1986 Yamaha FJ1200
2000 Yamaha Roadstar
1976 GoldWing. running but not on the road
1978 Goldwing. future cafe project.
2019 Can-Am ryker (boss's new ride)

2002 Shadow American Classic(sold)
1983 Shadow 500. (sold)
User avatar
BikeMaine
Gold Member
Gold Member
Posts: 1105
Joined: Sun Feb 07, 2016 7:57 pm
Location: Maine, U.S.A.

Re: 1982 GL1100 Corpse resurrection...er restoration...

#585

Post by BikeMaine »

Awesome
Kevin
1982 GL1100A
Post Reply
  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post

Return to “Members Restorations and Projects”