It reminds me of the car shows, where a restoration takes a year or more, and the results are as perfect a specimen as possible. Better than when it rolled off the line. Paint is perfect (no "orange peel"), everything is lined up perfectly... As my old mechanic used to say regarding front-end alignments: "the closer you get it to perfect, the longer it'll last". Ya done real good Bob. It'll last you a very long time, without having to do much more than simple maintenance, feeding, and dusting (like with a "Swiffer"). :bike: So start it already! The suspense is killing me! :popcorn:
 
A late reply to gas tank paint removal.
Guess the pics pretty well cover it. The later tanks do have a more defined, raised/lowered petcock flange area making it easier. I might do one of the early tanks just to see, a thought is put on a petcock and run a magic marker around it to delineate the area to be de-painted. The knock off x-acto knives are a handy tool for this and other precision knife work. They come out several times a year.
first and last pics are one I did on a scruffy "test" tank. Guess I'm OCD (sound familiar?) but if the petcock is off the tank, the paint goes.

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Thanks Tebo! This really has been a fun project for me, and I’ve sure learned a lot along the way.

Gary,
Thanks for the pics. As you can see on the bottom of that gold tank, and as you said, the petcock mounting area is rather flat and ill defined. I have to admit that I have a pretty strong reluctance to carve the paint up, down there. Not only would it be pretty hard to do, the clear coat is quite thick on this paint and it would leave a square edge where the cut is.
When I cleaned out the mounting holes and tapped the threads, I went over all the places where I cut the paint with super glue to try and re seal the paint. Yesterday I also did the superglue treatment all around the gas cap where I had to grind the paint to re fit the gas cap hardware. If my tank gets messed up I know a guy in Wisconsin that has all these beautiful painted tins hanging on a wall! :D
 
Bob for your viewing pleasure. (or open mouthed HORROR)
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After starting the first side with the knife I switched to a stone in the dremel for the rest of the project. I felt the knife was too likely to lift paint I didn't want lifted. This paint is about 5 years old and not thick as yours so prolly more brittle. I was kind of surprised that the stone did all the paint removal without clogging. I kept the dremel at low speed which allowed controlled paint removal but did little metal removal or scalloping. I always use new o-rings to install petcocks but have not sized one for the early petcocks. I haven't sealed the paint edges yet but that's next.The neck went better with the knife since it was easy to cut at the sharp edge. Pretty sure this is a 2 part "epoxy" primer, it is strongly bonded to the metal. Enjoy.
 
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I've been away for a couple of weeks Bob and Wow you've just about finished, the bike is looking spectacular, can't wait for the big day.:thumbsup::bike:.

Thanks Meddy! And welcome back, I look forward to seeing more rides from you!

Well, I finally got through all this to the current posting. A real treasure full of information for an xs2 owner. Thank you Mailman, like everyone, I can't wait for your total success with this project.

Mr. Bacon,
Thank you much! You managed to slog through 122 pages and. 2423 posts! You are to be congratulated for your perseverance! I’ve wondered how many people would be willing to take that on! Haha :D
Good luck with YOUR build, I hope you enjoy the process as much as I have.
Bob
 
Edit: I removed my original post here, I was in a very down mood. My work was stopped because of some sudden medical issues. I permanently lost some vision in my left eye , it was feared that a brain tumor could be the cause and I was facing a whole bunch of medical tests and an MRI of my brain. In the end it turned out to be glaucoma, which I will be treating for the rest of my life. Anyways, this is what paused my work.
-Bob
 
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I do not wish to turn my build thread into a medical thread,
:lmao: Good idea. I brought up my feet in the SG thread and it turned into 4-5 pages of health related stuff. Not that I'm complainin'...:rolleyes:

Go get your overhaul buddy. You'll be better than new. :D
 
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