Monday, April 09, 2007

Gutted

The tank, that is. Got up on Easter and started the running around for stuff. I picked up some 1/4 20 stainless nuts and cap screws for the fender, sissy bar and oil bag. Then I went looking for tools I could convert to metalworking use. My first stop was Harbor Freight. Closed... What, you would think today was important or something. Oh well, I guess not everyone can be a godless heathen. So I cruised my way over to Lowes. They are a corporation, so God doesn't matter when there is a profit to be made.

And after browsing around, I got this....
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The house brand tack hammer and a piece of baseboard. The tack hammer has nice lightly contoured edges and a small footprint. And the baseboard chunk is a handy dolly. And for less than $10 dollars it was the perfect addition to my tool bag.

Back in the kitchen.

You can see the bondo repairs from before on the left of the tank. One was pretty deep. Almost like a chunk of metal or something whacked it. So the filler was thicker than I like. Plus I want to avoid bondo, if I can.

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Right now almost the entire dent is out. I have a small low spot to attend to, but that shouldn't be too bad. I still need to get a flap disk for my grinder and get the scrapes out of the steel. When I used the body file, I wound up gouging the metal. I get a bit overzealous when it consists of tearing shit apart.

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But there is hardly any rust in the tank. It is very nice shape for a tank that obviously has been around a few days. So a bit of scotchbrite to the innards and that will be as good as new.

I do have some plans for the tank. I want to lower the tunnel, not to the point of being "Frisco" like but just nudge it up a bit in the front and also make the tunnel itself a bit slimmer also. It will also give me a bit more capacity which is always good.

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I began to fit the seat and fender last night also and found this little issue. Nothing wants to line up right. I only did a quick assesment but am stuck with just a couple of options.

1. Replace the fender and sissy bar to better fit the arc of the seat. I don't like this one, because I really like the way the twisted sissy bar looks and am a cheap bastard so I don't feel like replacing the fender if I can help it.

2. Replace the seat. Maybe I trade the king/queen set-up for a solo seat and then make a p-pad. Which could be a workable route also.

Tonight, if I have the time, I think I am going to take a real careful look at all of my options. Part of me is thinking I might be able to make some adjustments to the sissy bar to change the angle of the fender, but I am not sure if I have enough room to cut it down.

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