[Al Skierkiewicz]

I examined the motor very closely last night. The plastic that holds the brush assemblies in place is very thin. In all likelyhood the wires were soldered to the brush holders first and then assembled to the end plate. As such, I would not recommend soldering at this point either. The wires are #16 but are stamped as 200 C indicating a very high melting point on the insulation. So this is what I would recommend to teams...
1. Above all, protect the brush end of the motor, even aggressive bending on the #16 wires may damage the brush holders and their alignment.
2. Strain relief the #16 wires close to the motor before working on anything else.
3. Strain relief any wires you use to feed the motor.
4. If you decide to solder to the #16 wires, hold the wire with a pair of long nose pliers at the brush assy. The pliers will act as a heat sink and draw away any heat that might damage the brush assy.
You may be asking "Why?" on this motor but you have to remember that this motor was designed to go inside a hefty drill housing not a robot.