so last week I came across an early 750 tank , I don't have an early 750 , but you never know what could be coming down the road ,so I grabbed it you know , just in case.
It was obvious that it was a barn for a while, maybe longer, and had some Bondo on it that was cracking that would need repair. It hadn't any tank seal in it so it should clean up without great difficulty. So just sand out the Bondo , pull the dent as well as I can ....maybe a overall Bondo coat if it needed it. Sounds like the plan .
So I got out the sander and started to make dust. The cracked part that I thought I'd just sand out was getting deeper and wider than expected, but this has happened on a couple other tanks over the years, not scared , continued until it was all metal showing, the end was 4x4 and maybe an inch in deep. That took a while to pop out from the
inside . No holes, that's good. might as well sand out the rest. This tank was an ugly red, but it started life blue. I was expecting to find numerous colors and was pleased when I didn't but there was more Bondo both sides under the badges ,
, and deep dents on the long angles across the top front to the back back of the tank...the part with 2 defining lines that won't be easy to mimic with a really light coat of new Bondo... may end up 2 light coats, got most of the dent almost all the way out but there is 3 less than a dime size dings, that I just won' t be able to get all the way out . But I felt lucky to get most of them out ... looked like it fell down the stairs a few times before, just looks like some unlucky garage dings now, I think I can make them disappear.
Now that the top of the tank is ready for an overall coat, thought I might start sanding out the underside and make sure there is no tiny rust holes that would be a problem later. I've done tons of Honda tanks over the years but never an early 750 tank. I was surprised to see how rolled and twisted looking these early ones are on the bottom side. It's like what , they only make them Friday? Maybe the tank guy was sick that day? The 20 ton press broke just before this tank was made? Somebody was in a hurry? shot some primer on the bottom to see if you all find this type of craftmanship on all early 750 tanks or if this one is special. Going to send photos soon.