Will a 1980 PE400 tank and seat fit on a 1979 PE175?

[rohan]

Can anyone tell me:
Will a 1980 PE400 tank and seat fit on a 1979 PE175? From the photos it appears the tank will fit but the seat would be to long.

[LWC82PE]

Tank will bolt on no worries although the 1980 has a smaller capacity if thats a concern for you. Very unlikey the seat will fit on 'nicely and properly' but im sure with a little thought and mucking around it could be made so you could park your bum on it to get you out of trouble. The 79 seat has a metal base but the 80 has a plastic base and the brackets will be in different spots. The 175 seats are usually shorter than the 250/400 seats too. In reality it will be far easier to just get a 79 seat that cutting/welding/shifting things to make the wrong model seat fit i reckon. There usually is not much that will interchange between pre 80 and post 80 PE's but a lot of stuff can be 'made' to fit by doing modifcations though.

[frostype400]

Come on Frosty help me out, I know you know the answer...

Tanks are the same from 78-84 I have a few of them but as Leith said the capacity varies a bit though on the underside of the tank there are two circles one with a year and one with a capacity sometimes people sand them off.

On a 175 it doesn't matter so much if the capacity is 9 litres compared to a max of 11-12 the 400's suck the juice 175 are a bit more economical of course.

Seat is different the pe250b seat I have was modified to suit a 175 but it is metal you could make the 80 fit but it isn't going to be a 100 percent shame to ruin a stock seat if you don't have to.

[lukeb1961]

Can anyone tell me:
Will a 1980 PE400 tank and seat fit on a 1979 PE175? From the photos it appears the tank will fit but the seat would be to long.

The tank will fit. The seat will not. The C/N (both 175 and 250) has a steel base that is pretty much flat with an indent at the rear, whereas the later seats had a huge up-sweep that leaves them sitting miles about the tabs.
'Tex' on the PE mailing list has great experience in getting non-standard seats to fit his 175N. Ugly, but functional.

Early C/N tank had a "12" in a circle (on the underside) which signifies 12 litres. Slightly later versions had thicker walls (the plastic of the tank itself) and dropped down to 11.5 litres in capacity. Shape and mounting points of the tank remained the same. B models and UK had the early aluminium tank and different seat but that is not relevant to your needs.

You may wish to explore an RM seat and tank if they are more readily available to you. The 175 C/N is pretty much an RM125A frame.

Luke