Project Green Screamer

Hey all!

Posting here for posterity, but my first V4 project begins tomorrow. I am going to pick this little baby up from a fella who was selling it for quite a bargain. Obviously I'll be in for a long one with this one, but I knew that going in so I am not that worried. I jumped on it specifically because he had the full fairing plastics, because I prefer the fully faired bike's look.


Anyway, I do plan on reworking all of them and painting it with a livery of my own design, as I plan to keep this bike until I die. Always wanted a VF, especially the 400, but those aren't in America so I'll settle for this one lol

 

Congratulations - and a huge thank you for rescuing this one!

These 1st and 2nd Gen Interceptors are quite special and should be regarded as such.

Please keep the thread updated as you go along.

BTW, where are you in the US....just curious. I'm in Florida just below Daytona.

Cheers!

 

Also, I noticed quite a few parts on eBay for this model, so you might want to get a shopping list together and check it out. Some of them have been reduced because of how long the listing was - some good deals - but make sure you look closely at the part's condition before deciding.

 

Oh I plan on updating this relatively regularly, if only to make sure I'm getting good advice from all the folks here. Lord knows I'll need some help with some of the more intense stuff.

This bike will be terrorizing Dallas-Fort Worth once it's returned to the living, by the way

 

Bike acquired! Only problem is I dented the tank because of my ghetto transport method. Oh well, I probably was going to need to buy a new tank anyway based on what I already assumed from the body filler job. She is now happily at the old warehouse my dad is letting me use to fix it up.

First few things of note I've found:

1. It doesn't have the muffler, as the seller couldn't find it. Not a big deal for me really as I planned on getting a custom pipe made anyway.
2. The fairings are worse than I thought they'd be, but still repairable. Looks like I'll be doing some fiberglass work.

Other than those two things, it seems to be quite alright at first inspection. That's not saying much as I was very tired and sweaty after wrestling the thing out of the back of my minivan lol

Bike Acquired by twinleaf posted Jul 30, 2026 at 2:35 PM

 

Before repairing the fairings...check to see if they are ABS or fiberglass. It makes a difference in what kind of repair materials you use.

 

I will get some more pictures of her when I get off work tonight, it's been a bit of a whirlwind the last 36 hours.

The seller told me they are fiberglass, and I would tend to agree just judging by the insides of the panels looking like woven fibers instead of solid plastic. They also had frayed fibers hanging from spots where they had been damaged. Never worked with it before, but I've seen people do fiberglass repair before and I believe I can do it decently well. If not then I know a body shop in the area that probably could get it done better than me lol.

 

07/31 - Full picture by twinleaf posted Jul 31, 2026 at 3:57 PM

Coming back to it after a day, I was dreading inspecting the tank. But what I found was worse than I remembered.

Yikes... by twinleaf posted Jul 31, 2026 at 3:58 PM

It's pretty crumpled and fucked up, so I basically am planning on finding another tank, and that's when I took a closer look in the tank.

Uh oh by twinleaf posted Jul 31, 2026 at 4:00 PM

Yeah the inside is completely rotten. I removed the tank after looking down in there and well it sounded like a dusty maraca. So there's that.

No worries really, I am tearing the whole thing apart and putting it back together, so finding this now is good. My wallet disagrees, but at least I won't be needing a tank any time soon. Anyone know if there are any decent replacement tanks out there I could fit? Or am I stuck trying to find new-old stock?

 

Also I'll upload more pictures at work. I won't be able to really dig into the teardown until the middle of august because I have a trip I've been planning on doing up to my mom's place. Talk to you folks in a few hours!

 

Here's the photo dump from today, sans the tank stuff!

20260731_145941 by twinleaf posted Jul 31, 2026 at 4:48 PM

20260731_145945 by twinleaf posted Jul 31, 2026 at 4:48 PM

20260731_145949 by twinleaf posted Jul 31, 2026 at 4:48 PM

20260731_145953 by twinleaf posted Jul 31, 2026 at 4:49 PM

20260731_145959 by twinleaf posted Jul 31, 2026 at 4:50 PM

20260731_150002 by twinleaf posted Jul 31, 2026 at 4:53 PM

20260731_150006 by twinleaf posted Jul 31, 2026 at 4:54 PM

20260731_150110 by twinleaf posted Jul 31, 2026 at 4:59 PM

I should note, this isn't the extent of the stuff I got. Most of the stuff that isn't on the bike currently is in boxes off camera. Like I said previously I will be busy for a few weeks, and won't be able to really start on this thing until mid-August.

 

Well there's some potentially good news... the bike still has the 86 engine.

 

Lord I would hope so! Why is this good news, if I may ask?

 

It was the last incarnation and different from the 84/85. Line-bored heads for the cams and cam timing that is way easier when adjusting the valves.

When looking for parts, keep in mind there were a lot of subtle changes from 85 to 86, and everything is not compatible.

 

I know this is probably a dumb question, but would a tank from another bike in the family work? Like a VF700 or VF750 tank? Obviously I'd need to retrofit it in some ways, but the shape is there, or at least it looks really close.

 

The '86 was my first bike. I can see it has different forks (OEM were red) and someone has polished the wheel edges, probably to hide dings. OEM is solid black. I had that same Lockhart/Phillips fairing set. I will be honest, I paid my money cause I thought full fairing would look cool, and it kinda did for a minute or two, but... The fairing just didn't look right on the bike. They also funneled more heat into me. Unless you can locate a European FII set, at least think about using the chin spoiler. I pulled my fairings off after a while. Looking forward to your progress.

Oh, as to the tank. The 750 has a completely different shape around the bottom. It also sits atop the frame where the 500 tank slips over the outside of the frame on the front half. I would stick with locating a 500 tank, or if you can do body work, maybe even fixing that one if it hasn't rusted through. I imagine it would take less effort to repair a 500 tank than to try to make a 750 tank work.

 

Yeah the tank I have is almost certainly rotted out on the inside, so I've decided I'll be investing in myself and learning how to make a new one from near scratch. It won't be exactly the same as the Honda part, but there's no real saving this one. The petcock connection was completely rusted off, not to mention the amount of rust I could hear rattling around inside.

It'll definitely be more expensive than finding an old tank for a 500 but I for sure did not buy this thing for it to be cheap!

 

After some research, I think I have the solution. I'll make a brand new tank from fiberglass with a rough profile of the old, dented tank. That way I can keep it as close to stock-looking as possible without having to deal with the issues of using an old tank off another bike. I would weld a metal one together, but my welding skills are near non-existent, not to mention I don't have a single idea of how to form a tank with sheet metal.

 

Will this be a fiberglass shell hiding a plastic fuel tank underneath?

BTW, there are tanks available, but pricy.
https://ebay.io/m/M7FcMV
https://ebay.io/m/ska29l

This one needs a little body work, but is a lot cheaper.
https://ebay.io/m/VbOh2R

There are a few more in various conditions and prices.

 

It will be a fiberglass tank, with appropriate lining installed on the inside. I've done some research and it seems like there are resins and liner material that are fuel safe. I thought about doing a fuel bladder system but those can get expensive, and the stuff I'll be using will be relatively cheap, all things considered.

I have looked at them and to be quite honest I'd rather DIY it. Been looking for an excuse to do some fiberglass work for a while, and it seems like a better solution than paying a load of money for a tank that isn't in good shape, even for the age. I also just don't like dealing with internal rust and worrying that I'd miss a spot or not get every bit of it out.

 

Just to keep y'all up to date on things, I wasn't able to work on this much due to some planned recreational activities, but I do have some parts ordered that I know I'll need to replace anyway.

I do plan on documenting this in a sort of build video series, but no real idea how I'm gonna structure it.