Spiderbox New LIFE
 

ok so my spiderbox has been sitting for a while in the shed I believe over a yr now since the hammerhead came into play. Just makes me said seeing it sit there and I have tons of parts for it in the attic so I decided to get her cleaned up and running good.

The rear swing arm was a eye sore with rust and faded paint so everything coming off
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All the original brake lines, master, and reservoir getting replaced all new. :)
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New master in :)
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The front control arms had a little play in them which I didn't like so I added washers on the front bolt side and washers on the rear nut side and shes nice and tight now.
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The rear swing arm got sanded down by using a cut off wheel with a sanding disc let me tell u very time consuming. With that I welded a couple spots, cleaned up a couple wholes, and cut off 2 tabs that I wasn't using. 1 Coat of primer and 5 coats of hammered spray paint. I sprayed the hell out of it with a heavy duty degreaser right before the primer started.

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Also Forgot Did new connectors and newer switches for the ignition :)
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Looking sharp again.

great job

A little late now, but have you thought about adding another bar to the swing arm to prevent it from "splaying"? (spreading out)

I haven't noticed it on mine yet, but was given a heads up it may happen.

Glad to see you bringing it back to life though.

no im probally going to sell this yerf once im done cleaning it up, This was a cool project for me even though it was a lot of time and $ for sanding discs and paint but it was also good practice so I know what to expect when I strip down the hammerhead. Hopefully selling this will pay for a new engine ive been eyeing, and other tools ( Sand blaster).

Looks Great !! jman

thanks tom, its getting there

rear swing arm is back in, engine is mounted, shocks back on, I started running wires and figuring out how to run and mount some stuff to keep it clean looking, axle is mounted in also more pics soon ;)

so I get everything in engine, carb, the electrical all connected. Go to start and nothing not even cranking. So I play with the main wiring harness clean out some of the connectors reattach and nothing. Still no juice nor crank. Start trying to take readings with my volt meter says I have power at switch and the starter but wasn't able to bridge the starter with a screw driver. So I undo the starter connectors clean them and put them back on and she cranks :). So I hook up the ignition wire to spark plug and add fresh fuel keep in mind I had stabil sitting in the gas tank with some fuel from sitting. So after a few cranks she starts and runs :). I get so excited, but then I see a decent amount of smoke coming out of the exhaust but it was just clear smoke not blue or black as this is a new engine. Shut it down I clean up the garage a little bit so I can bring it outside to let it run out there. Go to start it again starts right up then all of a sudden I here a pop and see a huge spark shoot of the cvt cover where the vent is. No I have no power again. I cant figure it out cant bridge the starter but the volt meter says there juice there and the ignition button says there power. Ive truly spent to many man hrs on this buggy already and now this anything u guys think it could be since engine is new, and I changed a lot of connectors with new, I just cant figure it out now.

By what you described it sounds like a loose ground. Both chassis and rear carrier are grounded separately. From what you describe the chassis has a good ground because you show voltage. I would look around the CVT area you saw the spark. There is a ground from battery to usually CVT cover or the case right next to it. The wire is either loose corroded or burned up due to excessive heat from loose connection. I believe this is where your problem lies. I run a second ground from the battery to the engine case and have not had a problem. I have replaced many burned grounds sometimes having to go into the electrical box. Many of the older buggies would have 10 or more grounds twisted together then soldered. The problem with that is the inner wires will loosen after time due to lack of penetration of the solder causing this problem. Not a big deal to repair. Hope this helps get you on track.

the yerf only has a ground coming from the electric box area to the cvt cover and I actually made a new wire for it and made it shorter so it would connect to the first top bolt on the cvt cover. Im going to make another ground wire and see what happens, I did disconnect the ground wire that I am talking about and still have voltage at the ignition button but no cranking what so ever. Hopefully it fixes it though, if that doesn't work maybe then il try a ground wire from the battery to the cvt case then.

lmao I don't get this but when I disconnected that little wire I made that was attached to the frame to the cvt cover ground, the buggy started right up! I don't get it but it starts up and runs I need to get the jetting dialed in, need to adjust valves to, and bleed the brakes, and sand down the bottom of the floor and paint that and she should be ready, I don't think I want to sell it now lol just driving it around brings back so many memories when I was 17 and it was my first buggy lol.

this buggy is driving me nuts, now it wont start again but has juice to the button and starter solenoid. Il be buying more wire tomorrow and try a new ground wire to the cvt cover and metal.

you need to think of what other wires you may have moved around or bumped when you removed that wire.

the other week my other Crossfire before I sold it would crank some times after moving the wires and sometimes it wouldn't. come to find out the hot wire going to the coil was almost broke in two where it connected to the spade connector going to the coil. by moving other wires sometimes it would make it make contact and other times it would lose it. I found it by moving wires around and having it break off in my hand.

sounds like a pinched or shorted + wire on the engine or swingarm that's acting like a kill when the engine is grounded to the swingarm. Try starting it then grounding the case. if it still runs, then try grounding the swingarm. you may have isolated the chassis ground from the swingarm and have the issue only when you take the engine to ground on the swingarm.

yes I had the original ground wire attached to the swing arm and the cvt cover. took that ground wire off and it started, how I don't know lol. But now it wont start again.

Its funny that u say that if I wiggle the wires around also sometimes then go and hit the ignition button I will hear a click noise but no cranking. I remember when I had problems with the hammerhead not starting and it was because a wire had a slight open rip in it.

Curing your ground problems.... Make sure you have at least a 10g wire or larger running from the battery to the electric box. One end connects to battery, the other connects to a through bolt and nut in the plate under the electric box cover. This bolt will be a common junction to connect all other grounds to. At this junction run a 12G wire up front to the switch panel and create another junction with a through bolt. Use this wire for a ground source for the switches. Run a 10g wire from the junction point under the electric cover directly to one of the starter mounting bolts. Use steel, NOT aluminum connectors for all wire ends. Crimp style is o-k, soldier is better. Using heat shrink protects from corrosion, shorts and strengthens the connections to eliminate bad connections due to vibration. The lead to the front creates a full chassis ground. The lead to the starter creates a full motor ground. this starter ground also gives full amps for cranking power and eliminates that troublesome connection at the cvt cover.

This box contains spade terminal blocks for both positive and negative. These blocks are both powered directly from the battery. The positive block is 6 circuits fused. Every system in the buggy, starting, cdi, lights, etc. pull their power off these blocks.

Thank you for the tips, I have the black ground wire going from battery to the exact spot under the electric box like u said. Its funny I was talking to my old man about it last night and he said the exact same thing with running a ground wire straight to one of the starter bolts. That's probally going to be the first wire I run to see what happens.

a little update I got some time today and was able to run a ground wire from the same spot the battery side connects to the frame and run that wire straight to one of the starter bolts rather then the cvt case and zoom zoom she started right up :), slightly breaking in that new engine once its broke in a little, il put the big valve ported head and a-12 cam in it :) that have been sitting in a box for a year now.

Glad to hear you solved the problem.

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just some updated pics for u guys :), after some test riding a couple of things I noticed, 2 nuts where missing off the axle hangers :(, so I decided to replace the bolts with a washer behind them and Loctite the nut side, then I noticed the rear wheel hubs where loose ( castle nut ) so I tightened them with new cotter pins. Another thing I noticed the one front control arm is still a little loose so tomorrow im running to the hardware store and replacing the lock thread nuts for those 4 control arm bolts with thread threw nuts and putting Loctite on them. Other then that she starts right up every time and Im just still tweaking here and there so it sells fast once its done.

Looks fantastic. Has it got the built engine in it?

No that engine blew up a little after break in time was done, I posted a thread about it, I bought this engine off ebay for a steal, stock engine for $90.

worked on the yerf again today im having a serious hard time with the master cylinder and brakes I cant get the master cylinder bleed, anyway did a little touch of a upgrade I couldn't stand the way the steering rack shafts are held with just a bolt and the threads. So I took a 5/16 drill bit drilled out the threads just enough to fit a bolt threw the entire hole used lock washer and washer and a nut on the other end with lock tite, I remember my old yerf the top one would always come undone, its just little things I like to know are secure. Man this is going to be hard to post for sale once im done with it lol.

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still have no brakes cant seem to get the master working, I did however still drive it, call me stupid, nuts, unsafe is more like it lol. I think I have the carb pretty much tuned with stock pilot jet, and 125 main, has the hammerhead exhaust and r2c filter with a pvc intake I cut. 11 gram rollers and kidn me clutch and feels pretty good.

bahhhhhhhhh humbug brakes are for wusses. lol

lmao !!!! it feels good to be back behind the wheel of a buggy I sure do miss it.

I heard and understand that lol

Ride it until it's sold..... It won't hurt the price any. Providing you don't run into anything. It's not like you're riding around with no brakes or anything dumb like that.

OH WAIT......... ;)


What do you mean master not working? Unable to bleed the brakes? Tiny air bubbles in fluid?

I tell you what, if you cleaned up the exhaust port where it mates with the exh pipe, that's a nice little boost for free. I was surprised out how crappy that port was on my stock head.

lmao u guys r funny, yeah the master will blow a tiny bubble when I hook it up from the caliper bolt line straight back into the reservoir which is how to bleed the master and it still wont work, also im deciding to whether or not put the big valve ported head with the a-12 cam on a stock shortcase engine when I can find one for a good price again, or just throw it on the yerf and then buy the engine from taida with the stock 63mm bore and 3.3 stroker which doesn't need to be bored and comes with an oil cooler option.

I've read bleeding these is a bit tricky the "old way". (pump pedal and open bleeder)

Do you bleed yours with the vacuum pump?

The trick to bleeding when the system has been opened is to not pump the pedal. Open the bleeder than push down and hold the pedal close bleeder let pedal up and repeat until a flow of fluid is seen. Repeat this with every brake caliper until all are done. Top off the master and repeat but this time pumping and holding the pedal 2-3 times per wheel. When there is a lot of air in the system what generally happens when one starts the process by pumping is the fluid is pushed around the air due to the pumping process therefore trapping the air into many little bubbles. By doing it one pump at a time the air is pushed out as the fluid follows behind until the fluid pushes the majority of air out. Once the system is 95+ % fluid you then can pump the pedal to purge the rest of the air out. Another thing most will not do is when replacing a master cylinder is to bleed the master prior to connecting the lines. If the master cyl is not first bench bleed the bleeding process now becomes difficult.

fresh oil change, cleaned out air filter, took her for a ride today man what a blast with the colder weather, when i first hopped in i forgot i had no brakes still lol! Something about the rotella 15w40 oil everytime i put that stuff in it seems like the buggy runs betters compared to regular oil, need some more run time before i switch to synthetic, oh and i put a big valve head for it lol for a steal. Looks like i wont be selling the yerfie i need to get these dam brakes working.

headlights stopped working on the yerf :(, im hoping to have enough time tomorrow after working on the mustang, to work on the yerf for the other half of the day, figure out why the lights stopped working, then maybe install the hoca head I bought for it, I was thinking of just striping all the lights connectors and making it just a nice solid connection so it could take some time, will post hopefully tomorrow.

trying to figure out why the headlights stopped working ive pretty much disconnected and re connected everything I can think of.

took out my test light and connected it to the main power feed red wire that's comes from the wiring harness that connects to the light and got nothing, so something from the wiring harness is not supplying power for the lights and not sure what it could be

The lights get their power right off the rectifier/regulator red wire. The yellow wire from the stator powers the red wire. Check the red wire at the rectifier for 12 V with engine running. If power is present there is an open somewhere between the rectifier and lights. If no power is present check for power at yellow wire from stator. Not sure for it has been a long time but the yellow should be 12v ac into the rectifier/regulator and 12v dc from red wire at rectifier/regulator.

so did some work on the yerf today, ckau had recommended checking my bulbs I looked at them still in the lenses and looked fine by when I took them apart them where actually both blown! So I tried going to autozone and advanced auto parts and no luck either place so I just ordered them online. With that I re routed the headlights down lower and let me tell you im so happy I did I feel like it gives it a cleaner look. There so much slack in the wire length on these yerfs for the lights and I cant stand it. So tomorrow going back to autozone and getting new bullet connectors because im going to shorten the wire lengths by a decent amount and 1 of connectors doesn't stay connected anymore.

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I went a little crazy and made another ground wire for the starter because this 25 degree weather! was making it a little hard on the starter so now it has 2 grounds on it.
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The yerf dog seatbelts where always so annoying to adjust and could never get them to adjust correctly, oh and they where always tangled. So all I did was make sure the seat belts where mounted correctly so they weren't twisted, added some washers for the mounting spots, and u cut the end loop of the seat belts and what do u know they adjust nice and tight now! should have done that free mod yrs ago lol.
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finally installed the coil wire, with a newer spark plug, and turned the fuel/mixture screw in 2 full turns and she takes off and idles even better. With this cold weather I think I need to step the main from 125 to 128.

One other small mod I added dr. pulley slide pieceshttp://i268.photobucket.com/albums/j...115_192204.jpg

So tomorrows goal is clean up the wiring for the lights with new connectors, get new foam wrap for the 2 cross bars on the roof, and 2 foam bars for down the side bars where u sit. If I have time il port the manifold and install the hoca head I have for it :)

forgot to add my new riding equipment!!!! $12 bucks well spent!

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a little update, I moved the lights down lown so no more roof top, I cut all the extra slack out, I cut the old bullet connectors out put all new ones in, also installed new bulbs, both bulbs where bad once I took them out and was able to inspect better. thanks for that ckau. Start her up this morning and we have headlights! :). A lot of the old connections had corrosion and bad connections so everything is fresh and new :)

did some more beefing up on the yerf I couldn't stand the 2 piece steering shaft that always had play in it so I decided to weld it and makes the steering a lot smoother.
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Also finally had time to get lights working again and went with the led lights this time wasn't going to waste my money again on stock replacements
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I loved the idea ckau came up with, with getting rid of the engine mount bar so I did it
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with all that I had a spare 8 pole stator sitting in a box with the flywheel and I installed that also to give it better charging and help keep up with the lights but for some reason the lights wouldn't work with the 8 pole stator ?, so installed the 6 pole stator again and everything works as should. Im glad the lights are working now since it gets dark so late now, something about riding in the dark makes it seem like your going faster lol. I also changed the oil today finally to a full synthetic royal purple 10w40 air cooled oil! I could almost swear the engine is a little more quiet . Still have some more work to do, still no brakes lol, and I still have a brake light I want to install that's been sitting on the shelf for about 2 years. Going to try and brake bleed the brakes tomorrow with the wife.

voltage regulator might need an upgrade along with the 8-pole stator.

its funny you say that because before I installed the 8 pole stator I researched the voltage regulator and the stock one says its good for 6 and 8 pole stators. I even took the stator off the hammerhead which comes stock with a 8 pole stator and the lights still didn't work so just put the stock 6 pole back on.

long overdue update, When I last put the yerf away the rear swing arm developed a stress crack in the corner but the motor mount so I decided to beef up the rear swing arm. With that my brother helped me with the brakes so it now has brakes lol. I bought new light bulbs for the head lights, the led ones just flaked apart so out they came. I cut the connectors off the wiring that connect to the coil and put new connectors on that are nice and tight with shrink wrap. Had to change the fuel filter as it looked pretty clogged and didn't seem to be flowing like it use to. Still have some beefing up I want to do by the front where it connects to the frame. Might put a little more bracing by the rear motor mount and put a piece of rubber in between the nut and frame for the rear motor mount. Also want to get 2 locking collars for the steering shaft. Still a decent amount of work left ive really been thinking about just keeping it at this point as my goal was to sell it this year.

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hey guys a little while since I posted on the yerf, but went to work hard on her today. I had to replace the right side cover case gasket it had a very slight leak maybe a dimes worth once a week but I cant stand little leaks. Next cleaned up some electrical work, the rectifier connector plug was so old and cracked I decided to cut all the wires and each wire now has its own connector rather then me buying a new harness for that one piece. Next was I finally got the 30mm pumper carb all hooked up with a matching 30mm manifold, got a piece of rubber from lowes to match my pipe and filter. With that I got some clear 1/4 tube fuel line and new 1/4 inline filters. With that a new manual on off petcock which is just a brass fitting with the petcock attached to it. I had the seats out also so I had to put them back in. Also those led light bulbs where garbage! they flaked apart. So new stock bulbs are in and work great. After finally clamping, and taping off lines I rode it thew the trails for a good 20 minutes and it was a blast. I did run it without the plastic shrouds, and as soon as I shut down I hit the cylinder head with temp gun and it was at 275 F degrees. Which for me I still have plenty of room. I do run the cvt cover without the little cover that runs around the clutch area and I put the updated rubber shroud that goes on the front of cvt cover. Also running 10w40 redline oil. Im guessing its just a combination of things but she seems to be running real good and im liking the 30mm carb with the matching manifold. I have a a12 camshaft here that I would probally put in by the end of the week. Then after that run it some more, then the entire engine has to come out again so I can finish painting the rear swing arm again with the extra supports I put in.

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What kind of jetting are you running? Is this the buggy you are planning on using the Wideband on?

mb, it currently is stock jetting that a 30mm pumper carb comes with. I will use the wideband on the yerf and hammerhead to make sure they are tuned correctly. Im really just trying to get this running mint and cleaning everything up because im probally going to be selling the yerf.

from what I researched the stock jetting in a 30mm pumper carb is a 38 pilot and 130 main. Today it was running rich because it was 90 degrees out and humid as hell but when I took it out at night at 830 when it was 70 degrees and a lot less humid it ran good again. Il probally put a 125 main in it and use a 130 for winter time.

well I spent almost the entire today chasing a problem with the yerf today. It was running great for a while then all of a sudden if I tried to give it full throttle it would bog down and go no where. Would always start right up and idle perfect. I tried rejetting for hours got no where and flooded out the spark plug that has been in there since last year. So went threw all the little things, checked valve adjustment it was good, fuel delivery wasn't a problem, even went back to a stock carb with trying to jet tune it still nothing. Check my ground it was good. So took a little break went out and bought some oil and decided to change the oil, with the a new spark plug went in of course. So I was getting spark but it seemed to be weak, so what do you know I change the ignition wire and bam! runs like champ! while I was in the mood I out the a12 camshaft in and bam again the cam really woke the yerf up! Right now I put it away I have the stock carb in with a ported manifold with 35 pilot and 120 main but its also high 80s almost 90 degree air tomorrow I will put a 125 main in it and check the plug. I must say though Im pleased with the a12 camshaft.

some more updating tried going up on jetting and It ran like poop, seems like 120-122 main is the sweet spot for this hot summer air im sure once the colder and dense air comes il be around the 128 main jet.

the yerf dog has officially sold today.