Fuel Pump Reinstallation Tricks?

[rogan]

I have a 1985 K100 RS.  The fuel tank had a lot of debris in it, so I wanted to replace the fuel filter and clean the screen under the fuel pump. Got the pump out with a little difficulty from the plastic clips, got things cleaned up, put in a new fuel filter, and am now at the stage of reinstalling the pump.  Having a hard time getting the clips to go back in place and lock without applying what seems like a lot of force. Don't want to break them off. I sprayed some WD-40 on the clips, but didn't make much difference.

Any tips for getting the clips back in and locked?

[NEEDtoRIDE]

only chiming in from my recent newb experience of fuel pump reinstall, but it took me a few tries before realizing you have to push the tabs out to lock it into place instead of them "clicking" into place.
Align->push down->push out tabs to lock into place

also, is your fuel pump at the right depth? if not then the plastic ring wont be able to push down far enough

[rogan]

Thanks.  I think my problem was more basic.  It was a bit dark when I was working on it, and I didn't realize until this morning when I took the ring off the pump that the two plastic tabs/clips are different widths, as are the slots inside the tank. Haven't seen this mentioned before as I read through the past threads or the Clymers, though maybe it's in there somewhere.  I think when I get it all reassembled and turned 180 degrees in the tank, I should be OK. I was focusing more on getting the wiring routed correctly, didn't notice the clip difference while the ring was on the pump.

Thanks again, and maybe this will help someone else with the clips.

Fingers crossed that everything works when done.