Sods Law...petrol cap.

[Fraccie]

Finally, after getting the daughters 400 SD up and running properly, I got around to sorting the 400/4 out. Got the carbs rebuilt,balanced and cleaned up by someone far more experienced than me ( i know my limitations), the bike purred like a beaut after a bit of fiddling, everything works and looks good.

So I decided that the rusty old petrol cap really spoilt how the bike looks, it will never be a show winner,just a nice old bike,so I bit the bullet and ordered one from the company whom I have spent far too much money with,David Silvers of course. Anyway,new cap arrives, did some very careful drilling and tapping to remove the old one, fit the new shiney cap and promptly dropped the smallest bloody e-clip ever made on the floor..."oh dear" or words to that effect. A quick sweep with a welding magnet of the garage floor area and it was located and promptly fit onto the pivot shaft.

So onto fitting the catch, thought i`d learned my lesson?....What a nob, dropped the other microscopic e-clip, which has proved invisible ,non magnetic and downright unhelpful.

I have had to buy a bag of ten of these tiny e-clips, hopefully I shall only need one ( not bleeding likely,the size of them and my sausage fingers).

The point of the post, if anybody else buys a new cap and is as clumsy as me, give me a shout.I will have some spare,unless I really balls it up.

Cheers.

[mike the bike]

Fiddly things like switches and microscopic e clips are best done on the kitchen table.  I learned that the hard way.

[Johnwebley]

Fiddly things like switches and microscopic e clips are best done on the kitchen table.  I learned that the hard way.

  agrees with Mike ,also use  a white sheet,or similar it will stop it rolling,bouncing etc to far,


  voice of experience,
BTW  float bowl screws seem the most elusive !!!

[Fraccie]

voices of experience there guys,cheers.

I`m more used to dealing with plant,little clips are not the norm on those.

[dmit]

a trick I learned when dealing with small assemblies with tiny fiddly or spring loaded parts, is to get a very large zip lock bag, place the parts and tools required into the bag, place your hands into the bag, wrists to the far edges, and more than likely you'll need help but how ever you get it done "zip" the bag between your wrists. It anything goes boing it'll be contained in the bag.

[zed]

Good idea 👍

[Deano400]

Hi Fraccie,

Is this the E clip that you are talking about? No E clip on mine, I'm guessing there should be one here.
If so I would be interested in in 1 or 2 if you still have some.

[Bryanj]

If you work on plant what about the damn ciclips holding the main arm ram pon on a Hymac!

[Athame57]

I went on youtube to see how to fit those tiny E clips. I too have just a fitted one. OK heads up. I got a new fuel tank and petcock also, because the tanks you get from David Silver are US spec and take a different petcock. I had trouble fitting the new fuel cap I had also bought, I had to use a file on the fixing point on the tank to have the cap fit so the locking pin could pass through. Now i had just spent £400.00 having the tank and side panels painted ala F2 in candy red, I find I cannot fit the bluddy tank on. Panic. Phones up David Silver and initial disbelief gave way to agreement when they tried the same thing at their place. I sent in an image to show that the brackets on the tank that fit over the rubber fixing grommets was less than the original I had..see pic.  Eventually they found two ways, one I couldn't perform, the other was to cut back thickness of the rubber fixing grommets so the brackets could pass and let the tank fit. They say the manufactor had changed something without telling them, but anyway, if you get one as well you know what to do.

[Green1]

Why does that not surprise me 

Its not unusual to have to remove some paint from the small hole for the pin to pass through.
I had a replacment pin the same as the origanal that had to be peened over now there a pig to fit 

[oapcb400]

if you go on the U.S. SOHC site and find 'Hondamans' site you'll see he does a 'gas cap hinge kit'.  it consists of two stainless threaded pins, washers and acorn nuts, only $2.50,dead easy to fit.