Leather, Sno-Seal and Sandpaper

I've been having problems with my R65 since last December, when one of
the carb float bowls vanished as I was leaving an Airheads party.

The shop blamed flakes of rust in the tank, so a buddy of mine offered
to sell me one of his spares. Sure enough, when we took the petcock off
the old tank, there were indeed flakes of rust sticking to the screen.
However, the big surprise was what we found *after* the petcock was
removed! There was a piece of rolled up sandpaper, about 4" long inside
the tank!

Coupled with the float bowl, one might be tempted to suggest sabotage.
But who would do such a thing? The Most Ethical People on the Planet,
perhaps? Well, I can't really determine that it was Doc Wong's fellow
Scientology indoctrinees, but it isn't without precedent.

The new tank is rust free and clean inside, which is nice. It's not the
same color, nor is it all shiny new, but when you own a vintage machine,
you can't be too choosy!

My friend gave me a can of Sno-Seal for my leathers. Just finished the
pants. You rub it in and then blow dry it to soften the wax, so it soaks
into the leather. Now that I've done that, I can almost guarantee once
the jacket's finished, it won't rain again until 2008!
--
Barb
Chaplain, ARSCC (wdne)

"Keep fighting for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't forget to
have fun doin' it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous,
ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can
produce."

--Molly Ivins

Is it just possible that a previous owner was (misguidedly) trying to
clean the inside of the tank with sandpaper--maybe he wound it around
something spun in an electric drill--and a piece came off inside the
tank? If you were going to sabotage an airhead you could do better
than a rolled-up piece of sandpaper in the tank. (A little SAND would
work better!)

Also the float bowl on a Bing carb. is held on with just a little
spring clip. I wonder sometimes if they get knocked off by accident.
My other airhead has Mikuni carbs, and you have to extract four screws
to get that @#$)%* float bowl off!