Removing Coolant tank

[DaleNYS]

I am the new owner of a VT500 Ascot.  Owned an FT500, but sold it to someone who would use it more, as it was not the best bike for 65 mph interstate riding. I have a Shadow VT500 parts bike.  The Ascot had a substitute coolant tank that was just a plastic bottle zip tied to the lower rear engine mount.  In order to remove the coolant tank from the parts bike, I had to remove a lot of parts.  I ended up taking the battery box, tool kit holder, air box, and rear wheel off. It appeared to be the only way to get to all the bolts and pull the airbox out through the back.  Before I start taking apart the good bike, did I need to take all this stuff off?
     Also, the Shadow pipes have a heat guard where it comes close to the coolant tank. The Ascot no longer has this guard and the tab on the pipe is missing and a small hole welded shut.  I am certain that the shield is important for the life of the tank.  Can I just the swap the rear pipe from the Shadow?  I could use the whole  Shadow exhaust system if necessary.  It has what I would call a "muffler" or "expansion" box after the pipes join.   This box on the Ascot has been cut off and a plate welded over the opening.  Is this wise?  Would re-jetting have been necessary?
      Lastly, the Clymer manual was of no use is explaining how to remove the coolant tank.  I found an old post on this site that had a link to a copy of the Honda factory service manual, but I could not get it to open and download.  Is there a newer link somewhere?    Thanks.

[Bucko]

I've never done it, but I believe removing the coolant tank is a bit of a chore.  Before you start taking stuff off the VT500FT (just a technicality, but both the VT500FT and VT500C are 'Shadows' - I assume your spare bike is a C model) - are you sure the coolant tanks are the same?

Not sure the VT and C exhaust are compatible, as the Ascot would lake the mounting points for the C's left side muffler.  It's pretty common for people to hack off the Ascot's power chamber as it was seen as a way, with some jetting changes, to get a few extra HP (not sure if there actually is any more HP with that mod). And in any case, the power chamber is prone to rusting - particularly where the centerstand bumper hits it - so lots of folks have cut them off and welded a patch over the hole simply because the power chamber had rusted through.

You may want to explore if the Ascot muffler fits the C model power chamber, then, depending on the internals of that power chamber, cut the left side muffler stub off that power chamber and weld a patch there - that seems to be what was done to the Ascot factory power chamber.