Hey John,

If I were near to your location, I would gladly help. You don't need to buy anything if you could get a club member to help you solder, and you get to learn something from him. To get a good solder wetting, the surface needs to be cleaned of any grease and oxides by light sandpapering, alcohol cleaning, and then with a bit of flux during soldering. Less than a minute job.

Good luck.........Mike