The mistress has been up to her normal tricks. Someone on 928 RL suggested testing the tank before putting it back in. I had thought about this too, so decided to go that route. I put the tank in my large oil drain pan and put some fuel in it to see how tight the strainer was. Steady stream of gas. Tightened the strainer a bit more, but still gas. Tightened some more. Pop. The strainer came out. It appeared the super glue had held the collar where I glued it - 1/8" below the top of the neck. I thought once the strainer caught the collar, it would break the glue bond and suck it up all the way. Being low in the neck, the first couple of threads on the strainer were catching but that's all.
So I took a chisel and knocked the collar out. Decided I needed to modify the collar and knock the arm off by 50%. No turning back now. Got it small enough so it would snap past the inner walls (so gas wouldn't slosh around when low) yet had enough arm left to allow it to catch when tightening.
Fished it back in with the wire, then fished the big puller in and gave it a ride. It felt like it was going further. Released the puller and looked. It was fully up in the neck. Success!
Repeated the gas test. An occasional drop. Have been adding a quarter turn and think I have it. This was all over the weekend of Jan 3.
On Mon I worked at getting the tank back in. When I was taking it out, I had gravity working with me. It was my enemy putting it back in. Was able to finagle it back in place with the help of a jack stand. Fought a vent hose that attaches at the nozzle and goes thru a body panel and into the tank. It's a molded hose kind of in the shape of a squared off S. Had it attached to the tank and got it fished thru the body and onto the tank neck but it was a good wrestling match. Got the replacement bolt in at the nozzle (the old one that had been stripped) and I was set. I still had to put the leg straps on the tank that actually holds it in place. Cleaned up the fuel pump and bracket that attach onto the legs. The banjo line connecting the fuel filter and fuel pump was supposed to arrive Mon but the new arrival date was Wed. While I waited, it was another chance to test the strainer. Put 1.5 gallons of gas in and no leaks.
The last item arrived Wed and I could begin final assembly, or so I thought. The line that arrived has a banjo fitting on one end and requires a copper washer on each end to seal it. It's possible to reuse the old washers if you anneal them, so I found my old benzine torch and gave it a shot. Probably got 30 sec of good heat on them before the torch burped and caught fire. I threw it and luckily the flame went out rather than the tank exploding. According to RL, you have to heat the copper until it turns red and then dunk in water. I was no where close to red and wasn't going to try a 2nd time, so I set out on an adventure to find a couple of new washers (as opposed to ordering 2 at $0.50 ea, paying $10 for shipping, and waiting another week). Stopped at O'Reilly's. They had a few small packs of copper washers but none in the size I needed. The guy helping me found an assortment pack that looked like it had some in the size I needed. Great, but I had to buy 110 various sized washers for $20 so I could get the 2 I needed (they were a perfect match, however). If anyone needs any copper washers, let me know, I have a few extras.
So yesterday, still with no leaks, I put the tank straps back on, then put the fuel pump / fuel filter combo on, and hooked them all up. Put an additional 2 gal of gas in. Checked this morning and dry as a dessert.
Finished up with replacing the gas gauge sending unit and buttoning up the top of the tank.
Today I plan on taking off the left bank timing belt cover so I can watch if the belt is turning, then on Tue afternoon a friend is coming over to assist with attempt #1 of igniting her - hopefully in a good way. Will have an extinguisher handy.