Back in 2020, Cycle Source Magazine published a series of tech articles with Daniel from Pandemonium Custom Choppers built around real-world shop problems and the fixes that keep riders on the road. From electrical troubleshooting and fabrication tricks to roadside repairs and garage-born hacks, these articles were created to share practical knowledge from builders, mechanics, and riders who live this stuff every day. We’re bringing this series back to the spotlight because good tech never goes out of style, and chances are, somewhere along the line, you’ve run into at least one of these “99 Problems” yourself.
“99” Problems With Pandemonium and the fixes for them. Over the previous months, I reached out to readers and industry professionals looking for common shop problems, roadside breakdowns, and fabrication headaches — along with the fixes that solved them. The following tips cover everything from welding and electrical work to troubleshooting, painting, and quick garage tricks that can save time, money, and frustration.
We all know that when welding any material that cleanliness is critical. Dirt, grease, oil is not good. Another problem that we sometimes run into is Mill Scale. Mill Scale comes from the part of the process when steel is made; it is a protective coating to help prevent rust. It can be troublesome to remove. When building custom exhaust systems, I like to use a wire wheel to remove the mill scale from the weld area; this works great in most situations.
Removing old gasket material can be a pain. I have talked about several different methods to do this previously, but here is a new one for you. Take a piece of copper tubing (like for plumbing), smash the end of it with a hammer, then file it to a sharp edge. Voilà’, you’ve got a gasket scraper! The copper is softer than aluminum or steel and will not harm the gasket mating surface.
Black electrical tape, most all of us have a roll or two lying around. Sometimes space constraints make it challenging to get that big round roll around what we need it to. Here is a neat little trick, take a small socket and wrap the black tape around the socket, now you have a mini roll of black tape that can get into those hard to reach areas.
Scotty, a hot rod carburetor builder from Florida, submitted a couple of old-time shop first aid tips. We all know that when you smack your finger with a hammer or slip with a screwdriver and stab yourself, it is never good. Scotty says after the incident, pour turpentine onto the affected area, it will take the pain away and slow bleeding. He said it actually works! Scotty went on to say that to get the bleeding to stop, just go to the corner of the shop and find a ball of spider webs and ball them up and then place them on the cut, this is supposed to stop the bleeding. Ok, so we know where to get spider webs, but where the hell do you buy turpentine. The paint section of Walmart can fix you up there. On a side note, PLEASE TRY THESE METHODS AT YOUR OWN RISK!
I remember long ago, when I tried to assemble a set of spark plug wires for the first time, well, you know to crimp on the terminal end…it did not work out well, and they ended up in the trash can. Fast forward many years, and the task is not so difficult now. So here are a few pointers,
- Strip back the plug wire copper core.
- Put a bit of dielectric grease onto the spark plug wire outer. This will make the rubber boot slide on with ease.
- Now to crimp on the terminal, MSD Ignitions makes a handy crimping tool that is used with your bench vice to put a proper crimp on the wire that will hold tight and be correct. This little tool is worth its weight.
Electrical repairs, sometimes we get ourselves into a situation where we have some delicate work to do. When repairing small electrical components, big globs of solder are a no-no. Solder wick is very fine braids of copper wire; this wick can be used to remove solder where you don’t want it, such as on circuit boards and or small components. Lay the wick on the area where you want solder to be removed and heat with a pencil tip soldering iron, the excess solder will be wicked away.
There are many hand-cleaning solutions available to us nowadays. This one here is for the disposable hand wipes. They not only will take grease and oils off your hands, but they also work great for removing that same grease and oil from your engine components. So next time you have an oil leak on your sweet ride, grab a hand wipe, and try it.
This article was originally published as part of the 2020 Cycle Source Tech Series. You can find the rest of the tech articles, along with more how-to features, shop tips, and motorcycle tech stories, on the Cycle Source Magazine website.
If there’s something you’d like to see covered in a future tech feature — or if you have a problem and a fix worth sharing — send it in. From bikes and paint to tools and shop equipment, we’re always looking for real-world garage knowledge from the people out there doing the work.
