Topic: What to do with these dents. I've got 48 hours!

[jorwesflow]

So I've got 48 hours to make this tank look pretty because my bike is going to be filmed this weekend. Some friends are filmmakers and they're shooting some scenes out in Acadia National Park in Maine. Their lead character will be on my bike... movie's called Anomaly. check it out: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/639662626/a-n-o-m-a-l-y/posts

ANYWAY, look at these dents. Mostly the big one I'm worried about. I've received SO much mixed advice from people I know. Some say weld some rods on and pull it. But I've contacted half a dozen body shops and no one wants to touch my tank to do that.

Some say fill it with BONDO HAIR filler, use a piece of mesh, and then regular bondo to finish. Others say that won't last.

And some say just keep banging in that big dent to round it out down to the bottom edge to give it a custom look. Not sure I'm comfortable doing that...

I'd love to get some sound advice from y'all experts...

[ekpent]

I say borrow one from a riding buddy, quickly !!

[jorwesflow]

I say borrow one from a riding buddy, quickly !!

None of my buddies have 550's!

[Vincent P]

Bondo > Sand > Primer . Sand > Mat Black Spray Paint > Install.

this is the quickest I can think and will allow you to remove the bondo later on when you need to do this the right way.

Good luck.


Note: My son is in the film audio visual editing end of work and they usually can use lighting, film, and software manipulation to hide this.

[jorwesflow]

Bondo > Sand > Primer . Sand > Mat Black Spray Paint > Install.

this is the quickest I can think and will allow you to remove the bondo later on when you need to do this the right way.

Good luck.

I may just do this to get by... but for the record what is the "right" way?

Note: My son is in the film audio visual editing end of work and they usually can use lighting, film, and software manipulation to hide this.

Yeah, these guys are absolute magicians in post production. They could easily hide something like this. I'd like to save them the time of having to do it at all if I could. Not to mention, I just want my tank to be dent free.

[greenjeans]

ooh...that's a tough one.   I'd definitley try to pull that dent out a little before adding any filler.

The good thing about film - it can hide a great deal of imperfections on a bike.

Think about it this way - the camera is usually 10 feet away.  When it makes it to the big screen, people watching will be even further away.


If it were me, I'd strip the paint, then I'd  try to pull that dent out as much as possible.  Get a good filler with a hardener and smooth things out.

Prime, them paint.    Even krylon would likely be good enough for the film.

[Vincent P]

The right way would be to pull out the dent as much as possible, then fill and sand running through the various grits; followed by a good automotive primer (usually applied by a spray gun) and finally shooting on professionally mixed paint also via a gun in a proper booth.

[jorwesflow]

I'd definitley try to pull that dent out a little before adding any filler.

The right way would be to pull out the dent as much as possible...

I'd love to pull the dent if I had the right tools. But I can't get local body shops to even look at it for me. They say don't want to mess with a motorcycle tank. Too difficult. I don't know....

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

Flat black it. Harder to see surface irregularities. Women wear dark colors all the time to hide their fat, err to look better. 

Start looking for a good tank after filming. That looks like it's served it's purposeful life already 

[Untold]

Fill it with water and put it in the freezer?

[jorwesflow]

Fill it with water and put it in the freezer?

Never heard that one before...

[Elan]

If its for film,maybe you can wrap it with a stretchable fabric/leather

[Elan]

Fill it with water and put it in the freezer?

Never heard that one before...

Wouldnt that just bust the seams?

[acollin]

"Buy it now" ebay-- overnight shipping

The bike is a movie star-- it can afford it.

[74750k4]

Not sure, but maybe you could use some filler on it, and then vinyl wrap it??  Possible within the 48 hr time frame???

[Robbo22]

Buy/borrow a tank bag.

[Don R]

In extreme cases compressed air has been used. Don't get carried away and don't get hurt.

[Stev-o]

Fill it with bondo, sand and paint with flat black.....now.

Then, don't worry, won't be noticeable in the film.

And start shopping for a new tank for the future.

[Stev-o]

Look around in your area for a "Paintless Dent Removal" professional. They can knock that out pretty darn well and do so for very little money. 

With the location of that dent, I don't think they could get to it.

[754]

Forget about the frozen water and air if you want to get to the shoot.. A dented tank that fits is better than a leaker..

[Sprocket75]

Flat black it. Harder to see surface irregularities. Women wear dark colors all the time to hide their fat, err to look better. 

I am still laughing at this!   

[Powderman]

A stud gun would be the correct way, but you say no one has one or will use one on your tank.
Fill it will fiberglass body filler, sand and paint. Fix correctly after the movie shoot.

[750K]

Tank bag, lol.

[Toxic]

Keep looking for a body shop that knows what they are doing.  Fixing that dent properly with a stud gun is not going to be difficult at all.  Wouldn't take more than an hour to get most of it pulled out so that you wouldn't have to cake the bondo on.   The time consuming part would be if you are trying to use the pull the dent out so that it is perfectly smooth, that would be a real challenge.

[nccb]

Your down to 24 hours, what have you started to do?