How to dismantle a fuel tank cap?

[chamallow]

Hi guys, I've got a little problem with my fuel tank cap (on my XJ6). When taking out the screws to change them, my fuel tank cap broke in some place. It's not dramatic per se, but it's not aesthetic! Here's how it looks now:

There's no way to glue it, or even weld it; I asked around. My two options were to either change the whole cap, which means I'll have a new key just to the fuel tank, or buy another one and try to dismantle the outer circle from the inner one. So, I bought a second-hand cap. Thing is, I feel like the lock has some problems. When I put the key in it, I can't take it out! I had to take out the cap, and dismantle the locking system to get it out!! So, I'm a bit afraid that if I install that new cap, I won't be able to take out the key when I use it :/

What I'm trying to do, as an alternative, is dismantle the outer "circle". Here's a few pics from the back:

What I think I have to take out, to split the circle from the rest, is that sort of blue/grey shaft at the top. It's not a single piece, it seems like it's two short shafts meeting in the middle. There's some kind of liquid, maybe glue, or grease. I have no idea how to take it out without breaking it.

Has any of you had to do such a thing? I'm not really a handywoman, and I've just got basic tools

[nayruf]

The two (blue/grey) pins, I believe are called scroll pins, they are a hardened spring steel tubes that have a split along the length, the idea is that the holes in the ring are smaller then the diameter of the pin, when the pin is pressed through the hole the split in the pin closes up and because of the sprung tension in the steel pins they try to open and grip the sides of the hole.

now you have got the assembly off the bike and assuming you may not have the tools/grips, could you take the cap assembly it to a small garage and ask if they can spare a moment to pull the pins out? When I worked in a garage we would of pulled the pins out for you with out charging you,

[slice]

Nayruf is right, but you can do it yourself with just a small screwdriver and patience, just clamp the ring (broken bit) in a vice and knock the pins through then do the same to the one you have bought and swap them around, just be careful not to squash the new part in the vice to tight otherwise you will end up with both of them damaged. Use some cloth or wooden batten to keep the vice from marking the new part. as I said it's fiddly but doable in even the most basic workshop.

[chamallow]

Hi guys, thanks for your advice. I'll try to go to a small motorcycle garage soon. I hope they'll accept, and it won't pose them too much problem.