Short update in doing tanks the Paulages way....
I must admit, I'm a dedicated long-term member of the old 'cut-and-reweld-Brigade', so Paulages' idea of getting those knee inserts in a tank seemed a bit weird at first glance. After spending some years of my working life as mechanic in a body-repair garage I knew shaping sheet metal to more or less satisfying results means a need for unlimited access to both sides of the panel, something that would be restricted in case of a tank-layout. A couple of pints later I decided to give it a go, took a spare tank out and startet my first Paulages tank (always having 'Plan B-cut/weld') in mind. As I always fancied an overall slim body-line for my cafe project, I used an old 500 tank.
Here's how it went in 9 easy steps:
1. put tank on bench
2. put tools on bench
3. important at this stage: put some beer and fags on bench
4. drink 1 pint (at least), have a fag and say farewell to to your tank
5. mark the desired basic shape of knee-insert (I used a cardboard pattern, taped it to the tank and a steel marker)
6. have another pint (and a fag)
7. start hammering with dead-blow hammer, always start from center, using entire hammer surface, then gently work your way outwards up to the desired shape. As Paulages already wrote somewhere else, never try to shape al in one go - that'll leave you with nasty dents and loads of filling work...
8. after having the basic shapes trial-fit tank to frame and compare both sides, reshape where necessary with tank in situ
9. have some more beer and give yourself a big pat on the shoulder
Some things for consideration though:
* make sure, your tank is in a good, accident-free condition. Mine was heavily filled in the areas of the intended knee inserts, which left me with lots of small, sharp-edged dents I now have to fill in.
* consider carefully, which 'layout' you want - as I want to keep my Honda decals I decided for small recesses
* when doing it that way (the Paulages way that is), always have in mind that you won't alter the area where bottom section and side panel join, meaning depending on the tank you use you'll still see a more or less protuding curve at the bottom (if you want to avoid that you'll have to go for the cut/reweld option).
* if you have to buy a dead-blow hammer go for (at least) 15 oz - with less you'll have to put too much force in the blow itself instead of letting the hammer do the job....
* always, really always, find a good explanation for your misses as to why it is absolutely essential to bang the #$%* out of an otherwise perfect tank instead of doing some jobs on the house or in the garden (I refered to things like 'street cred', 'the boys' and stuff like this, although I don't think she was very impressed :-) )
Success fellows.
Ray
And here's some pics:
