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Saw a thread on this the other day and found the project bike in dire need, so after I finished it struck me to document the process. The following is what I developed.
Gas Cap Repair
I opened the cap on my project bike and saw the crustiest broken down rubber seal I have ever viewed in my life. It crumbled when I tried to brush it. So I disassembled the gas cap and soaked the crud off the parts and sanded off the rust and reassembled. Then it hit me to photo document the process. I needed the info from Fredintoon to figure out how the bloody thing came apart so I decided to save it for prosperity. Thanks Fred!! I did not fork out the money for a genuine Yamadog gas cap seal, I am way to cheap for that. So I tried Home Depot and found they had nothing to match up. I was stopping by Autozone and so I gave them what was left of the ring from the old seal and they found a thermostat seal that looked perfect!
Here is the cleaned up cap all intact, the quick eye will note the new gasket already in place.
So, first step is to remove the two screws that hold the lock mechanism, in place and take those parts out. The lock itself falls out the bottom (with the cap upside down).
This will then allow you to swing the seal and vent section up.
You can then see on the back of the seal section the E-clip that holds it in place. If your going to use the o-ring or similar type seal that I used, you are finished disassembling here unless you just want to clean it all up like I did. You can simply cut the old seal off and reinstall the new one without going any further with the disassembly. For those who want to take the gas cap apart, keep reading.
You compress the spring by pushing the seal section down to remove pressure from the e-clip and let it push out past the indent that holds it in place, then you can remove the e-clip and have the parts as shown separated.
Although not necessary for this procedure, I went ahead and removed the three screws and took the seal and vent cap apart so you can see there is a gasket behind it and under the gasket is a washer with a hole in the center and under the washer is some mesh filter material. The original seal encloses this area and keeps it pulled together with or without the springs. If you use the o-ring type seal I did, it will not keep these together and the screws must be used.
After you reassemble the seal and vent pieces you can either install the new OEM style seal that will come up from the bottom, or if you use the o-ring type seal you can go ahead and reassemble the seal and vent to the cap by reinstalling the spring and the e-clip. Some of you might have the grip of death and can compress the spring in one hand and reinstall the e-clip with the other, I cheated and use my bench vice to compress one side and channel locks on the other side to keep it compressed while I put the e-clip back in place.
Now that the cap is mostly reassembled you can install the new o-ring type seal while you can still hinge the seal vent piece up.
Now push the hinge back down and reinstall the lock mechanism..
Then the slide on top of it, followed by the latch making sure the spring is on top of the hinge piece and then reinstall the screws and you have a gas cap that is ready to seal for another 20-30 years.
In the picture is the packet from the gasket I bought, it is made by Fel-Pro with a part no of 35292.
Hope it will help someone.
Gas Cap Repair
I opened the cap on my project bike and saw the crustiest broken down rubber seal I have ever viewed in my life. It crumbled when I tried to brush it. So I disassembled the gas cap and soaked the crud off the parts and sanded off the rust and reassembled. Then it hit me to photo document the process. I needed the info from Fredintoon to figure out how the bloody thing came apart so I decided to save it for prosperity. Thanks Fred!! I did not fork out the money for a genuine Yamadog gas cap seal, I am way to cheap for that. So I tried Home Depot and found they had nothing to match up. I was stopping by Autozone and so I gave them what was left of the ring from the old seal and they found a thermostat seal that looked perfect!
Here is the cleaned up cap all intact, the quick eye will note the new gasket already in place.
So, first step is to remove the two screws that hold the lock mechanism, in place and take those parts out. The lock itself falls out the bottom (with the cap upside down).
This will then allow you to swing the seal and vent section up.
You can then see on the back of the seal section the E-clip that holds it in place. If your going to use the o-ring or similar type seal that I used, you are finished disassembling here unless you just want to clean it all up like I did. You can simply cut the old seal off and reinstall the new one without going any further with the disassembly. For those who want to take the gas cap apart, keep reading.
You compress the spring by pushing the seal section down to remove pressure from the e-clip and let it push out past the indent that holds it in place, then you can remove the e-clip and have the parts as shown separated.
Although not necessary for this procedure, I went ahead and removed the three screws and took the seal and vent cap apart so you can see there is a gasket behind it and under the gasket is a washer with a hole in the center and under the washer is some mesh filter material. The original seal encloses this area and keeps it pulled together with or without the springs. If you use the o-ring type seal I did, it will not keep these together and the screws must be used.
After you reassemble the seal and vent pieces you can either install the new OEM style seal that will come up from the bottom, or if you use the o-ring type seal you can go ahead and reassemble the seal and vent to the cap by reinstalling the spring and the e-clip. Some of you might have the grip of death and can compress the spring in one hand and reinstall the e-clip with the other, I cheated and use my bench vice to compress one side and channel locks on the other side to keep it compressed while I put the e-clip back in place.
Now that the cap is mostly reassembled you can install the new o-ring type seal while you can still hinge the seal vent piece up.
Now push the hinge back down and reinstall the lock mechanism..
Then the slide on top of it, followed by the latch making sure the spring is on top of the hinge piece and then reinstall the screws and you have a gas cap that is ready to seal for another 20-30 years.
In the picture is the packet from the gasket I bought, it is made by Fel-Pro with a part no of 35292.
Edit: This is a thermostat seal for '83-01 Toyota Camrys, so it should be easy to find. Reports are these work well...