Dings and Paint Job on gas tank

[Anonymous]

i own a `1980 gs400L with 20,000kms on it. I am in the process of making it look better. I am on my way to the gas tank; 1) has a dent half the size of a computer mouse in it. Can i ding that out myself? Can shops pull it out? will someone actually get that dent out for me? if so, would it set me back a whole lot of bling? 2) new paint job. ive heard of bead blasting, my shop at school can do it for free. do i bead blast it, sand it, prime it, then paint it? Is this the right order? Whuts the going rate for a new paint job at a shop, or is it easy to do at home?Any and all help would be severely appreciated.

 

[Anonymous]

Hi Tanner! I have a '81 GS450L that I bought this summer. I also painted a Honda(gasp!) Shadow for a friend this year. His tank had several small, up to a quarter, sized dents in it which I filled with good old bondo. You should try to get some of your larger dent out first if at all possible, then fill in the low spots with body filler(bondo). There are several methods out there, one is to use compressed air to pop the dent, another possiblity is the "ding king" dent puller systems. They have the suction cups and wing nut devise which pulls the dent out. After you have removed as much dent as possible you can then proceed with the project as you outlined. There is an article about repainting in this site, perhaps in the garage section, I belive it is titled something about GS400 rebuild. He does a good job taking you through the process using spray cans. Not as good a finish as with a paint gun, but will surely look good when done right. I have a friend who owns a cycle salvage and sales, he has been paying around $200 for a decent paint job on his used bikes. Hope this helps, stay in touch. There is a link to photos of my bike if you go to the owners forum and look at the posting GS action photos. Dave J