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Looking for advice on a small tank dent.

  • Thread starter Thread starter frijoles-and-beans
  • Start date Start date
tkent02 said:
So roughly $6,000 or maybe $10,000 worth of labor charges, I'd rather use a little filler.
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Well it was for a show bike. I myself wouldnt spend that kind of time for a daily rider but I would put extra effort into a tank to minimize the need for any filler.
 
Hammered said:
Well it was for a show bike. I myself wouldnt spend that kind of time for a daily rider but I would put extra effort into a tank to minimize the need for any filler.
Click to expand...

Or just fill some of the low spots with brazing alloy and sand flat.
 
Nessism said:
Or just fill some of the low spots with brazing alloy and sand flat.
Click to expand...
Yeah. Ive tried and had a little success with the old tinning kits when I had my MG B.Was way harder to do than I thought at the time, but if you can turn the part so the repair area is flat, its sweet. Wonky will cheat sometimes by adding metal shavings from the drill press tot he tin so magnets will stick. Old bodyman trick.
 
Nessism said:
I used some Bondo Prestige filler for my last couple of projects and it's an excellent product. It spreads smoother than the regular bondo and feathers out nicely. Bondo is made by 3M these days, although I don't think it used to be that way.

I've pulled dents before by silver brazing a nail onto the metal and then pulling the nail with pliers to lift the dent. I've seen guys braze with a mapp gas torch before so it's easily doable. In the end though the goal is to get the metal close to but not over flush. Over flush is bad since you will then have to hammer the metal back down. Under flush to within 1/8" is fine - that's were the body filler comes in.
Click to expand...

I might need to try that.
 
Making headway. You guys are so good. I took off my tank yesterday to do the tank-cleaning with the Evaporust tutorial on Cliff's website. By the way Cliff, excellent tutorial. I guess you have Nessism to thank for that. Thanks a lot you guys. I had rust; I don't have one speck of it anymore.

Well anyway, I wanted to thank everybody that has contributed so far to the thread. That dent is almost gone. Like I said earlier, I used that glue and nail method, and it worked with a bit of success. Today I used the hair-dryer and dry ice method.

I heated up the area with the dent, and then I applied dry ice. It came up a bit more. I'm thinking I will either wait and make the contraption to push it out, or use some of that fiberglass fill that was mentioned. I am feeling better about the dent now. It is not that noticeable anymore. It was a rather severe crease, but now it's just a slight concave with barely a hint of the crease.

I'm still quite obsessed with it, so I don't think that I will paint it just yet until I get that dent once and for all. I just wanted to let you guys know what a grand day I am having thanks to the great suggestions.
 
Not fiberglass, go with Bondo and bondo cream. it cleans up nice. Just make sure you feather out the edges good and that you get then nice and smooth. Remember the more paint on the tank, the more the unevenness will show.
 
Probably the best way to make the dent "disappear" would be to apply a little Tequila (to you, not the tank). :rolleyes:

I understand that with just a little bit of Tequila, you will soon say "What dent?"

Be careful, though, it won't take much more Tequila before you say "What tank?". :eek:

.
 
Steve said:
Probably the best way to make the dent "disappear" would be to apply a little Tequila (to you, not the tank). :rolleyes:

I understand that with just a little bit of Tequila, you will soon say "What dent?"

Be careful, though, it won't take much more Tequila before you say "What tank?". :eek:

.
Click to expand...


here is a dent removal picture


IMG_4622.jpg
 
I finally fixed it and painted it too.

I took most of the dent out with the stuff I did to it, and what little remained I filled in with filler primer. It was so small and shallow at that point that filler primer was all it needed, and not the Bondo type of stuff. It came out nice and smooth. I don't have my camera right now (my daughter has it), but look for pictures of it in the Riding Game sticky thread. I'm very satisfied with myself. I ended up painting it black, so I could have a black tank again.

The dent still bothers me. It borders on obsession. Sooner or later, I think I would like to find one without dents or fixes. If anyone has one I'll buy it, but this tank will do just fine for now. It was a good deal.

I'm serious; if anyone has a pristine tank for a 1983 850 L model, I will buy it from you. I think it might be crazy time for me and this tank idea, but really, I have a nice paint scheme in mind, and I want to do it on a nice tank. I used rattle-can acrylic enamel this time because I'm not that worried about the tank, but next time I want to use a gun and some urethane. House of Kolor has some amazing colors and finishes.

http://www.houseofkolor.com/index.jsp
 
So all that fussing about this dent and you finish up with a rattle can?:rolleyes:
 
Too funny Beans..the dent is frying brain cells by the millions, but you used rattle can paint...LOL.
 
If primer filled it it's not a dent.Good luck finding a better tank.They wheren't that fussy when they made them 30+ years ago.
 
Well, I was attempting to take the dent all the way out, but I have since become disenchanted with the tank because of my failure to do so. I tell you, I got obsessed with that stupid little dent. As soon as I find a tank without any dents or fixes, (and if I'm persistent, I will) I'll use this one as a back-up tank, I guess. This tank is just fine actually. The dent is gone (except under the primer) and it's looking good.

I didn't want to use the good paint, and pull out my gun for something that I see as flawed. I'm fretting about a pretty inconsequential detail, but hey, it's my tank. I want it a certain way. I guess it is kind of funny though-What the heck is Beans talking about now; a dent that doesn't even exist?
 
I sort of get the obsession, since I can be that way regarding my bike too. At some point it becomes pointless though, at which time you need to slap yourself up against the head and focus on the bigger picture. There is way more benefit from working maintenance items such as changing out rubber brake lines, cleaning up the R/R and stator wiring, making sure all the harness electrical contacts are clean, etc. A smig of body filler on an otherwise solid tank should be the least of your worries.
 
frijoles-and-beans said:
Well, I was attempting to take the dent all the way out, but I have since become disenchanted with the tank because of my failure to do so. I tell you, I got obsessed with that stupid little dent. As soon as I find a tank without any dents or fixes, (and if I'm persistent, I will) I'll use this one as a back-up tank, I guess. This tank is just fine actually. The dent is gone (except under the primer) and it's looking good.

I didn't want to use the good paint, and pull out my gun for something that I see as flawed. I'm fretting about a pretty inconsequential detail, but hey, it's my tank. I want it a certain way. I guess it is kind of funny though-What the heck is Beans talking about now; a dent that doesn't even exist?
Click to expand...


The nicest thing about this obsession is the very real chance you will ding the tank shortly after finishing a perfect restoration.
Then you will get a pathological obsession and get il, lose weight and sleep and eventually succumb.
 
Nessism said:
I sort of get the obsession, since I can be that way regarding my bike too. At some point it becomes pointless though, at which time you need to slap yourself up against the head and focus on the bigger picture. There is way more benefit from working maintenance items such as changing out rubber brake lines, cleaning up the R/R and stator wiring, making sure all the harness electrical contacts are clean, etc. A smig of body filler on an otherwise solid tank should be the least of your worries.
Click to expand...

Oh yeah, I'm pretty diligent about my bike's maintenance issues too. I need it to last a good long time. I have picked up virtually all of the tips from BikeCliff's site. I've been going down the list. I still haven't done anything to my brake lines yet, but I have compiled a long list of projects from his site that I have completed.

I know that the appearance is just icing on the cake, but my bike is running really well right now, and I want to just be able to make it look as nice.

I think that at the end of the riding season, and we have a long one here, I will break the bike down and get the frame powder-coated. I really want to do a full restoration on it. Hopefully by that time, I will have found a good tank to work on.
 
Nice! A lot of people think you can overdo it with chrome. I am not one of those people. Looking good.

See; if one day I got a wild hair and decided to chrome out the tank, I couldn't do it with a Bondo type of fix. I would be the kind of guy to get a gas tank chromed out. Really though, I'm going to go for the restoration on the bike, and it just wouldn't feel fully restored with a dent under some Bondo.
 
someone said you can't plate over bondo.. NOT true. You can. You can even have plastic plated! Think on that one!! haha

Well, to keep people from flaming due to a lack of knowing I will explain. What I saw done was that they applied a metallic coating and then they dipped it. I can't remember if the metallic coating was a dip or spray though. It was several years ago. But they did it. Not all companies can/will do it. I have talked to companies that powder coat that way too.
 
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