Hello again, friends - I was hoping to write an update sooner but errors have occurred and lessons have been learned.
The errors -
The fuel tank cap was seized so I needed to break it to remove it, problem is most of it fell into the tank and was painfully difficult to remove.
Twice I ordered a new fuel cap from Amazon, both times neither of them fit correctly. Walked into a Yamaha dealership and priced out a new cap...I didn't expect the $102 price tag so I did not purchase...will need to find one elsewhere.
I attempted a gas tank rescue, spending time to remove the internal rust and purchasing a can of POR15 Fuel Tank Sealer. I also wanted to improve the previous repairs so I went at it with my torch only to make things much worse. After I picked up the tank, I heard rattling inside and upon shaking it upside down, discovered several large chunks of rust that became dislodged while I used the torch. At this point I was frustrated, gave up and just ordered a new tank from Amazon (one that comes with a cap)
I attempted to return the can of POR15 tank sealer but the seller refused to take it back even though the can was not yet opened. So now I have a can of tank sealer and new fuel tank. My question to anyone out there - can I add the sealer to the new tank to prevent future interior rust?
Lesson learned - of the main styles that are used in these conversions (Cafe Racer, Tracker, Bobber, Scrambler, Brat-style) I decided I like the Scrambler the best because of the bad-ass knobby tires. I ordered some Kenda K270 dual sport tires, placed them on the rims and for the life of me could not get them to inflate. Brought them to my mechanic near work and he could not get the bead to seat properly to add the air. I took them to another shop and even they could not get air in them. I purchased the same size as were meant for the rim so I contacted the folks I got the tires from. This is when I was informed that dual sport tires require inner-tubes. <insert eye-roll here> So now those are on order.
For those of you who recall that I was going to do something very unique to my 400, the next paragraph will describe my intentions. So if you still want to try guessing, stop reading now and wait for photos to come much later.
My first car was a Honda Civic which, for lack of money, I learned to repair things myself. The rear windshield wiper was broken off and the washer fluid nozzle had a chunk broken off on the side so with a lack of pressure, the fluid would just dribble out. Since this nozzle was only plastic, I placed a needle in the hole and melted the surrounding area so that when I removed the needle, the hole would be smaller which theoretically would increase the pressure and shoot fluid straight down onto the glass. Well this plan worked all too well, because there was so much pressure it would squirt the vehicle behind me. That was wayyy so much fun. On a cloudless summer day I would come to a red traffic light and when the driver behind me was not looking I would squirt their car windshield. Once they realized their windshield was wet they would look up into the sky for rain clouds that were not there. I'd squirt them again and they'd laugh when they realized where the water was coming from. So I decided to do the same with my Yammy, but another one of my new hobbies is robotics so I decided to build a robot/droid to sit on the back of my bike spraying the vehicles behind me. So there it is, I'm pretty sure you have never seen a motorbike with a droid on the back squirting water.
I appreciate any advice regarding the new fuel tank, to add sealer or not.
Thanks
