Mailmans , 77D getting a makeover

Things got a little stalled out here last time I posted. The petcocks that I had so lovingly restored had the wrong bolt hole spacing for this tank I bought. So I ordered a couple from eBay with the correct 46mm hole spacing.

They arrived yesterday, but as usual , you change one small thing and it starts a cascade. Here you can see the new one on the right, compared to my old one. Notice the thickness of the mounting flange.
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It is so much thicker that now my screws are too short. I’ll need to run to the hardware store and pick up some longer ones. ( Oh darn! I just hate going to the hardware store and rummaging around in cabinets! :D )

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I was thinking about breaking these new petcocks down and polishing them, but the action feels really smooth already. I might let them go.

Still lots to do! :)

Later, Bob
 
Bob: since it’s steel threaded into steel, you’re probably OK with 6 mm (i.e. one diameter) of thread engagement - particularly since what you’re mainly doing is compressing that o-ring.

I’d guess that the fish-plate welded to the bottom of the tank is only about 1/8” thick anyway and there is no point in having 1/2” of screw sticking up proud of the bottom of the tank.

Pete
 
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Well I am making a little progress on my project. I’ve been working on the petcocks, for one. 2M made the observation that the stand tube for the reserve tap was too long, and he was quite correct, in fact both tubes were too long. I have no idea why they were so long, but I shortened them. Then , because I really wanted the filter screens on the tubes, and they always fall off. I super glued them on.
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Next up, you may remember that because the mounting flange is so much thicker than my old petcocks, my mounting screws were too short. Pete suggested that they may still be long enough, so I checked and they only showed 3mm of exposed thread.

So off to the hardware store for some replacements. I looked for stainless steel button head screws but the head wasn’t large enough for the sealing washers. So I settled on 6mm x 20mm small head flange bolts. They’re actually very nice! The hex head is 8mm.
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I installed them with those hard fiber washers I picked up a couple weeks ago and they are super easy to snug up with that hex head, almost too easy! You have to be careful not to over tighten them.
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So the tank is all done mechanically, all I need now is the Yamaha emblems I ordered from England. Right on cue, up pulls the mailman with two parcels for me, one is the Yamaha emblems and the other has my freshly painted side covers from Jim! They look great! Thanks buddy! :thumbsup:
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So, things are starting to pop here! Still much to do, I need to recover my seat and install the grips, and pull the carbs for cleaning and do a total tune up.
I think the bike is going to look and run great!
Until next time,
Bob
 
Seats done! Man, this one was a bear! I bought this cover from a company in England because I liked their product. It looks EXACTLY like a factory seat cover, and oh Lordy is it a tight fit! I tried soaking the cover in the hot sun first, which helped, but I still had to apply a little heat gun as I went around to get it over the seat pan. Really happy with the results. Looks like new! :)
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Well this certainly looks familiar.....
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It’s been a couple of years since I had the carbs off and tuned everything up. When I first brought this bike back to running condition, I really struggled with the carburetors. Air leaks everywhere, and my left carb body had significant internal wear that was making it hard to adjust and set the idle and balance. I eventually replaced the left side body with a good used one from the Prince of Baraboo. :pimp:

I posted this video on the 4th of July, two years ago.

So now I’m in the process of breaking down the carbs for a thorough cleaning. No problems to run down this time, just clean and tune.
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Hey, remember when we were talking about the crankcase vents on my XS2, and I restricted the outlets on mine to reduce oil vapor. I epoxied a couple small machine nuts in there. Then later 5Twins was telling me about how the factory later on put these rubber stoppers with holes in them to reduce the size of the opening. I never even realized, I have those on this bike. Look how close I came to matching the one on my XS2 ( on the left )
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I’m also going to be replacing all that old clear line with Tygon. These clear lines get hard and stiff from being heated. This morning I was just trying to move one of the lines aside ( while I still had the carbs on the bike ) and look what happened. There’s no flexibility in these lines at all, that could’ve been disastrous on the road. I want to get rid of all those clunky clamps also.
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I didn’t take any photos, but I also removed the old grips and got everything cleaned up. I also cleaned and lubed the throttle tube and cable.

This bike has really gotten scrungy from the last two years of riding. It’s amazing how much oil vapor and dust and grit collect everywhere. I’m going to clean all that back up and when I get my carbs back on, I’ll go through The Whole tune up ritual and balance the carbs with my manometer.

The hard part for me is trying to keep a handle on not letting this job spiral out of control. I’ve already restored it once ( or maybe refreshed would be more accurate). The little voice in the back of my head keeps saying things like, “ That would be much easier to clean if you took it off, and while it’s off would be a good time to rebuild it, and of course if you rebuild it, you’ll have to either paint or polish it.” :D

And that my friends is a very slippery slope, I’ve already been down a couple of times. I have to try and keep in mind the original objective.
CLEAN
TUNE
COSMETIC MAKEOVER

Man, the first time I worked on this bike for My 60th Birthday thread, I always closed out with a photo of me holding a beer. Damn! Sometimes I miss that, a cold one at the end of a job. Not a drop in a year and a half.
But I’m feeling much better now......
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Later,
Bob
 
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