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dent removal from a gas tank

  • Thread starter Thread starter dwfranke1
  • Start date Start date
D

dwfranke1

Guest
HELP, any good suggestion, or does anyone have a 79 e model tank for sale?
 
Before you ask, No, I don't have a 79e tank for sale (be good to know which model)

Dents, denpending on how big, what they are and where can be blown out using compressed air. Its not really a home DIY job and you can ruin a tank but most can be fixed by a repairer.

Suzuki mad
 
A GOOD paintless dent technician with a set of balls, can do it very nicely.

The problem is...there is a chance that a dimple or crease can be put in the fuel bung and make the tank a 'leaker' for the rest of it's life.
 
Depending upon how bad a dent and location a rubber plunger (sink unblocker) can be used to "pull" the dent out. I've also heard of inner tubes being put in tanks and inflated to push a dent out.
 
To start off, I've never ever done this, but my uncle told me that he once filled a tank full of water and froze it. The expansion from freezing slowly pushed out the dent. Again never done this myself but my uncle is a resourceful old red neck. Try at your own risk!
 
Compressed air and freezing water will spread out the "wings" of a tank, and it'll never fit right again.

Find a good PDR (paintless dent removal) shop, and they should have no trouble massaging the dent out, assuming the dent isn't along a seam.

Can you post a photo of the dent, or give the GSR Hive Mind a hint as to where it's located?
 
I've watched the paintless dent removal people work on cars (removing hail dents from horizontal surfaces like hoods and roof panels) but I'm not sure about using that technique on a motorcycle gas tank. PDR typically involves getting behind the dent with a long prybar of some sort (those guys have all kinds of different shaped prybars) and pushing out the dent from the inside. The metal thickness on a motorcycle gas tank is much thicker than the sheet metal on a car body, plus there no way to get behind the dent in many cases. The PDR technique also requires support on the underside of the dent so they can pry against something and push up on the dent. A motorcycle gas tank doesn't have anything inside the tank to pry against so again, that technique is questionable for a motorcycle gas tank.

I think pulling the dent out from the outside is a better option. If the dent is not too sharp using a glue-on dent puller may work. Otherwise, a weld on pull-bar type dent puller may be the only choice.

Oh, and the water/freezing technique is very risky since you can burst a seam on the tank plus the tank will rust inside from the water. I tried this technique and got scared when the ice started to expand and make all kinds of cracking sounds - I terminated the experiment and went to conventional methods instead since a broken seam is not an option.

Good luck.
 
rubber dent puller has worked for me

rubber dent puller has worked for me

A LONG time ago when I worked at a M/C shop, I used a puller (had a handle molded as part of it), I was able to pull a dent out of the top of a Honda 550 tank (on the bike) fairly easily with a single pull, followed by a fairly loud metallic POP. It was an uncreased dent, however, and just about the right size for that puller. Popped out perfectly, and I was just a parts guy helpin' out a customer in the front of the store. Pretty cool.
 
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