Topic: Tank dent

[Ryan 550k]

Hey everyone.  It's bound to happen to us all at LEAST once right?  I dropped my bike today, I misjudged a curve in the road.  I put a pretty nice dent in the tank and completely obliterated one of my side panels.  Other than a few good size raspberries I'm fine.....amazingly.  So, can a tank dent be repaired?  Or is it just #$%*ed and I should start looking for a new tank?

[greenjeans]

Well, good to hear you're ok... probably cheaper to start looking for a new tank than to pay somebody to fix it...

[BobbyR]

It depends on the dent. There is no reason a tank can't be Bondoed and resprayed.

[GammaFlat]

I've been told that you put between 1 and 3 psi into the tank and gently "rubber mallet" around the dent.  If you don't care about the paint, apply heat first on the outside of the dent working your way inward.  ("tanks" HondaMan and DragMan836)

[tom8Toe]

I thought there was a thread not too long ago where someone with a dented tank filled their tank just shy of the filler cap with water and put it in the freezer. Not having done it myself, I'm not completely sure of how effective it is or if there are any concerns needing to be addressed. Unfortunately, I'm unable to find the thread now.

Anyone else remember seeing the thread I'm referring to?

[fuzzybutt]

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=31779.15

[tom8Toe]

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=31779.15

Thanks Fuzz. I knew I hadn't been hallucinating. However, I never can tell anymore 

[chopstar500]

Two words: BON - DO

[Gordon]

http://forums.sohc4.net/index.php?topic=31779.15

Thanks Fuzz. I knew I hadn't been hallucinating. However, I never can tell anymore 

We never got an update after he tried it the second time. 

I still don't think it's a good idea.  The freezing water will expand the entire tank, not just the dented areas, and you could very easily end up with split seams along the bottom.

[Donzon]

The metal is really thin.  Try to bend a bar so the end reaches the dent through the filler and tap tap tap.  Won't be perfect but it cuts down on the Bondo.

Don

[merc2dogs]

 Depends on the size and shape of the dent, and whether there are hard bends at the edges. Also on whether the tank is easily replaced

I've had good luck using  push rods made out of 3/4 inch or bigger steel rod with the ends rounded and bent to shape can reach most areas on a tank and let you push them out.

Also welding some disks to some thinner rod bent into eyes, or grind the heads of some carriage bolts flat, then solder them to the tank in the center of the dent and use them as puller posts, keep pressure on them and tap around the edge of the dent, that will normally walk the dent out.
 
 Have heard of using the same pullers with super glue to pull dents and avoiding the solder aspect, haven't tried it but plan to experiment. Need to have a larger head on them though to increase surface area.

Ken.   

[Geeto67]

 
 Have heard of using the same pullers with super glue to pull dents and avoiding the solder aspect, haven't tried it but plan to experiment. Need to have a larger head on them though to increase surface area.

Ken.   

paintless dent repair - they sell kits to do it but the kis are crappy. A pro auto body shop should have a pro-grade setup which actually works. A buddy of mine does this and I had him pull a dent out of a T500 tank for me, worked pretty good.

[cafe750]

Just dont get too rambunctious with using the filler neck as a fulcrum for anything you may stick in there....I tried popping out a dent, and i wound up almost collapsing the tank, because the metal is really soft. Luckily, I was able to pull it back up, and I decided to leave the little dent alone...

[OldSchool_IsCool]

As a last resort, create a matching dent on the other side.  Ya never know... it might look good!

[moham]

Just dont get too rambunctious with using the filler neck as a fulcrum for anything you may stick in there....I tried popping out a dent, and i wound up almost collapsing the tank, because the metal is really soft. Luckily, I was able to pull it back up, and I decided to leave the little dent alone...

Funny, that's exactly what I was wondering to myself reading the other posts...I wonder if the others that have done this successfully have a particular technique? (I will soon be in the tank de-denting mode myself)...

[merc2dogs]

use a slapping spoon in the neck as a fulcrum, keep forces aligned with the sheetmetal of the tank itself.

  The rod is primarily used to apply and maintain pressure, don't need a lot of force the actual dent removal is done by tapping around the dent with a body hammer right where it folds.
  When you hit the fold two things happen, it's restrained by the bar and surrounding sheet metal, so instead of denting in more it tends to flatten out the bend which pulls the dent out.
 When the hammer hits it knocks the bar back and since you have pressure on that, it springs back and hits the bottom of the dent and pushes against it.

 Basically you're using the hammer-off-dolly method in reverse

Ken.

[pablo78cb550]

i used liquid steel in the emblem mounting areas and a tiny bit in a ding.
it works really well.

[Terry in Australia]

My last F2 tank had two holes in it where the PO had screwed a self tapping screw into it to pull a dent, then he just bondo'd over the holes. Luckily Ii stripped it before painting it, or it could have been nasty. I brazed up the holes.............

I've got a "stud welder" that I bought for $2000.00 a few years ago (but I've seen some really cheap ones on EBay or in the Eastwood Company on line catalogue) when I was painting a lot of cars in my garage for workmates on weekends.

Anyway, it's a great device, you need to strip the dented area back to bare metal of course, but then you just weld the studs into the dent and use a pair of pliers or a slide hammer to pull the dents out, then twist or grind the pins off. Still not a perfect solution, but you only need a smidgeon of Bondo. Cheers, Terry.

[paulages]

My last F2 tank had two holes in it where the PO had screwed a self tapping screw into it to pull a dent, then he just bondo'd over the holes. Luckily Ii stripped it before painting it, or it could have been nasty. I brazed up the holes.............

I've got a "stud welder" that I bought for $2000.00 a few years ago (but I've seen some really cheap ones on EBay or in the Eastwood Company on line catalogue) when I was painting a lot of cars in my garage for workmates on weekends.

Anyway, it's a great device, you need to strip the dented area back to bare metal of course, but then you just weld the studs into the dent and use a pair of pliers or a slide hammer to pull the dents out, then twist or grind the pins off. Still not a perfect solution, but you only need a smidgeon of Bondo. Cheers, Terry.

x2 on the stud welder. had the chance to use a nice one before, and have since wished i owned one for motorcycle tanks. harbor freight sells one for around a hundred, but well...it's harbor freight. if you're good enough at welding you could basically do the same thing with some small steel rod and a slide hammer.

[Terry in Australia]

This one would probably be good enough. 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Dent-repair-stud-welder_W0QQitemZ110235938887QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item110235938887

[paulages]

This one would probably be good enough. 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Dent-repair-stud-welder_W0QQitemZ110235938887QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item110235938887

"chicago electric..." that's one of the top-notch harbor freight brands. 

[Terry in Australia]

No good Paul? 

[paulages]

No good Paul? 

i'd buy it for $30, but i usually rely on the fact that i can return my harbor freight tool when it breaks after the first use. as a matter of fact, i have a general criteria i use when buying tools from there (which is surprisingly too frequent), which pretty much can be summarized by the following question: "will i have to use this more than once?"