Mailmans , 77D getting a makeover

Oh and remember when I super glued my filters on to the end of the brass pick up tubes ? Yeah that’s them. They were rattling around inside my tank.
I think I'd try JB Weld on them... and maybe even on the paint under the petcocks. And fwiw... I've never removed the paint under the petcocks... never had a problem there either.
 
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Interesting stuff as always. Thanks guys. I don’t think I ever did any paint removal where the Honda fuel valves sit. Must have gotten lucky. As far as the epoxy thing, I’m going to think about it a while. I do remember that Skip put a little epoxy around the top of the fuel neck on my K1 and it flaked off over time. Now he uses POR and a artist brush around the top. Hmmm. The Honda tank has had that stuff on for years.Thanks again.
 
The only part that leaked was the Motion Pro fuel line! It was/is too large (loose fit) even at 1/4"
I've used a lot of the 1/4" Motion Pro fuel line (clear) through Moose Racing and altho it does not turn yellow, it does shrink in a year's time and requires replacement or tightening of your clamps.

What a bummer, Bob, that your paint wiped off your tank. I'm wondering what it was painted with.
 
What a bummer, Bob, that your paint wiped off your tank. I'm wondering what it was painted with

Something thin and unsubstantial.

Yesterday I ran to the hardware store and picked up some clear two part epoxy, and today I mixed up some and used a small art brush to apply it around the petcock mounts. This stuff sets up fast! I need to do a little more tomorrow, but I think it’s going to work alright.

I also took the two brass fittings out of the petcocks and cleaned them up and applied Hylomar on the sealing washers and threads to seal up that gas leak.
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Then I got started making my new spark plug wires.
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Popped in a new set of Iridium spark plugs and my ignition is good to go! With proper black wires!
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That ought to keep the electrons flying around for a while.
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Later,
Bob
 
Ok...so I’ve been slowly chipping away at this gas tank.

You may recall that my brand new petcocks leaked and drooled gas on both my newly painted side covers ( which had no effect on them! ) and also the underside of my gas tank around the petcocks, unfortunately the paint on the gas tank is not of the same quality as the side covers and it melted some paint off around the petcock mount.
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So I went off in search of a clear epoxy to spread around my petcock. And this is what I bought.
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I mixed it up and applied it all around the mounting flange with a small art brush. This stuff is quick set to begin with , but combine that with our extreme heat and low humidity and the big shop fan I had blowing at the time. And well,
Let’s just say the results weren’t pretty, in fact they were down right fugly. The stuff is thick to begin with and it started setting up on me almost immediately, making it very hard to work with. So instead of the nice level , smooth finish I expected, I got epoxy that looked lumpy and had brush strokes in it. The more I tried messing with it, the worst i was making it, so I stopped the bleeding. And no you can’t see it! Haha! :D It’s not my usual pretty work.

Fortunately, I believe I got a good seal with it, and the petcocks obscure almost all of it. I gave it a couple of days to cure and worked on my petcocks. Before I installed them I had them apart and applied a light coat of Hylomar to every sealing surface except these washers.
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So naturally that right where they leaked!

I gave them a light coating of Hylomar and also the threads and put everything back together. Today I mounted them back on the tank, then re installed the gas tank onto my bike, and gave the tank and side covers a coat of wax.
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I’ll give the Hylomar a day or two to set up and put the gas back in the tank, and I’ll be good to go for riding on our mild summer days! o_O Well......a guy can dream can’t he?
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Later, Bob :)
 
That really is a beautiful bike Bob. I love that design. Did you come up with that? That’s not a stock design is it? BTW I live in NCFL and I thought it was hot here. Nothing like AZ.
 
That really is a beautiful bike Bob. I love that design. Did you come up with that? That’s not a stock design is it? BTW I live in NCFL and I thought it was hot here. Nothing like AZ.

Thanks! That bike is a ‘77, it left the factory with the Maxi Maroon paint theme. That finish had already been covered up by the time I bought it. It was white,
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http://www.xs650.com/threads/my-60th-birthday-present.47639/

The black tank was bought on EBay , never used. It was originally sold with that pattern ( minus the Yamaha tuning fork emblem ) by Mikes XS. The side covers were painted by Jim.
 
Did you ever head out to your shop with the intention of doing one thing, and wind up doing something else entirely?

I went out today with the intention of doing some maintenance on my XS2, then got distracted by something that’s been nagging at me for some time now. My ugly front brake caliper. That and the fact that my front brake has been squealing something fierce lately. I decided to give it some attention.

So I pulled it off this morning and broke it down for cleaning,
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In a previous effort to address this constant brake squeal, I had bought and applied some of that anti squeal grease to apply to the metal to metal components inside the caliper, and while it did quiet things down initially, the squeal returned and the grease migrated around and made a real mess of things, and I didn’t realize this until today it was starting to creep into the edges of the pads.
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I wiped the carrier and the hardware clean then threw them in the ultrasonic cleaner for a few cycles. Then hot soapy water and a hot water rinse. Then finally I wiped the carrier and the caliper down several times with paint thinner to get everything as clean as possible.

And now everything is clean and ready for masking and painting.
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I’m trying to decide if the Rustoleum professional grade paint I have would be acceptable, or should I just go buy some new caliper paint. The Rustoleum is good for up to 200 degrees.
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I also plan on pulling the disc off for a little dress up, and I already had an extra set of brake pads that I’m going to throw in.
That’s all for today, check this space later for a follow up.
Bob
 
I’m trying to decide if the Rustoleum professional grade paint I have would be acceptable, or should I just go buy some new caliper paint.
I've spilled brake fluid on my calipers and it never caused even a whiff of damage to my paint. VHT Caliper Paint my boy.... I'm sold on it. :D
 
I would pull the bleed nipple out or mask it off. Don't want to plug it with paint.
A black nipple would look almost as bad as green gaskets.:poke:
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Green gaskets? Who me? :D

I've spilled brake fluid on my calipers and it never caused even a whiff of damage to my paint. VHT Caliper Paint my boy.... I'm sold on it. :D

Yeah, in my heart I know that’s right. I was just cheaping out. Haha! :laugh2:
 
I developed an annoying brake squeal shortly after installing aftermarket pads on my '78. What finally cured it was fitting the pad shims Yamaha used on later models (#12 and 13) .....

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Unfortunately you can't buy them anymore. I scrounged them from a used later caliper. Maybe Gary could help you out with a pair?

I see you have the anti-squeal stainless clip with the rubber pads in it to try. I tried it 1st and it didn't help.
 
Thanks 5Twins! Yeah I found those little anti squeal clips a while back on eBay. I wasn’t really holding out much hope for them. :laugh2: Maybe I will contact the man from Baraboo! :thumbsup:
 
I've refitted those shims when I found them in a caliper but my last three or 4 late models haven't had them, no squealing. I've been using a lot of the pads from seller caltric on ebay, on XS650's and other bikes with no problems. cheap, fast shipping, and they work. :whistle:. Given your "generous application" of grease honestly I'd sand the rotor, douse with brake cleaner, repeat, throw in new pads.
Do you do a break in series of stops? I have glazed a set of pads before, cured with vigorous sanding. But once they have been contaminated they go right in the horse feed bag.
 
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