tank dent removal.

[Shaughn]

Say no to freezing

Say no to freezing

I froze my tank this summer, putting enough water in so that popping the seams was a real possibility. I figured that if it popped, oh well, where the dent was, I'd need to pop the seams anyway. Long story short, froze for over a week over 80% full of water, and no dice.

See they earlier thread: http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showpost.php?p=876970&postcount=28

 

[Nessism]

I froze my tank this summer, putting enough water in so that popping the seams was a real possibility. I figured that if it popped, oh well, where the dent was, I'd need to pop the seams anyway. Long story short, froze for over a week over 80% full of water, and no dice.

See they earlier thread: http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showpost.php?p=876970&postcount=28

80% full isn't enough, the ice will just expand into the open space. Not sure how full is the proper amount...actually, I don't think there is a "proper" amount, unless you want to burst a seam.

 

[hillntx]

A 50 year veteran of the auto industry recommended a heat gun and a dry ice pack. Heat the metal real hot and apply the ice directly to the tank to cause it to contract quickly, should pop out the dents. I've also heard of hot gluing a 2x2 board endwise to the dent and then yanking it off to pull out the dent. I haven't tried it myself but have seen before, during and after pictures of it's use and it seemed effective.

 

[Griffin]

The thing you ahve to remember is that motorcycle gas tanks are considerably thicker than most automobile body panels, so require more force to remove dents. What may work on your Toyota's fender may not necessarily work on your GS'es tank.

As someone who owns a couple of really nice, still stock painted GS750E tanks with dents in them, I'd like to find something that really would remove the dents without messing up the paint.

 

[49er]

As someone who owns a couple of really nice, still stock painted GS750E tanks with dents in them, I'd like to find something that really would remove the dents without messing up the paint.

Unfortunately, there is no magic cure for repairing tank dents. Because the metal is stretched when the dent is formed, returning that part of the tank to its original shape requires heat and shrinkage. The heat and peening action required, will always damage the paint in the surrounding area.

 

[82Shafty]

I thought about looking into the paintless dent removal tools as I have a few very slight ripples that I would love to be able to massage out.

As far as the tank picture above, that's a decent sized dent to work out and it looks like it needs paint work anyways.

I would uni-spot it.

http://devildogtools.com/hsau55stplst.html

This is to get you the idea...I'm sure if you were serious you could find it cheaper or used somewhere for less.

This will require a repaint.

 

[nvr2old]

First post on this forum, thanks for letting me in. I'm currently restoring a '79 GS1000S Wes Cooley Replica, and visually making it look like a Yoshimura super bike. This is my first Suzuki, but over the course of 30 years I've done 100's of custom/restoration paint jobs. I truly believe the best method for removing a dent like the one pictured is with a stud gun. It spot welds pins onto the surface area of the dent and then is carefully (from the inside of the dent working to the outside) pulled out with a slide hammer. Very few dents will simply pop out. As mentioned, a bike tank is thick. Most will come out "close" but it's just easier to pull it as much as you can, without pulling it too far, and then fill it with plastic body filler. Modern products are incredibly efficient and easy to use.

 

[LarryA_Texas]

Okay, I'm gonna tell you this only because it's true...I saw him do it. MY OFFICIAL DISCLAIMER...I DO NOT RECOMMEND YOU TRY THIS AT HOME!!!

While I was stationed overseas in Japan, I witnessed a worker in a m/c shop pop a dent with....

A FIRECRACKER!

Oh yeah, I stood back aways.

The tank had been purged with water & fresh air for a few days. The dude lit the fuse & tossed it in. Then quickly put the cap on. BAM! The dent was gone.

Freekin' unbelievable!

Right...and for larger dents don't purge the gas first, just drain it.

Question: how would the firecracker know where the dent is and which way to blow?

 

[tkent02]

Right...and for larger dents don't purge the gas first, just drain it.

Question: how would the firecracker know where the dent is and which way to blow?

Firecrackers are smart like that.

 

[nortonrider]

I had a Triumph tank that I took to an autobody shop for repair. An apprentice used compressed air and blew all of the shape out of the tank in about 1/2 a second flat. The shop bought me a new tank from England. I think the PSI was too high but if it was done with a lower pressure and the dent wasn't too severe, it might work.

 

[supergrafx]

I bet you got the throttle cable pinched or routed in the wrong place when the tank went back on, or maybe even changed the shape of the tank enough to interfere with the cable.
So maybe it didn't crash itself, after all.
Do the cables go above or below the front rubber tank mounts?

I talked to the guy that fixed my bike last night and he didn't touch the throttle cable and left it as it was originally placed by the PO. Just the night after posting about those problems, I took a look at the wiring routing diagram in the gs550 service manuel per your advice and can see what you were saying about the harness and all cables for that matter (throttle, clutch, return), not be routed where the diagram shows and buggered up as well. I got two gs1000s cables coming from flatout right now and am going to start lining a spare wire harness I luckily have in the correct fashion stated by the manual (many wires on the harness have been burned!!!). Once things are in place I'm going to revive the thread with questions on connecting the cables, ect... Underneath the tank, the hollow around the frame, is completely sound except for some surface rust. I see that the tank rubbing against the throttle was most likely to blame since there are golden rusty streaking marks along the throttle cable rubber outer hosing that was produced by the rust underneath the tank which it was rubbing against. Not to jack this thread, just posting reply... Great thread btw.

 

[Buffalo Bill]

This did not work.

This did not work.

I tried gluing (JB Weld Epoxy), on a drywall screw to the bottom of the dent, waited 2 days for a full cure. It pulled off at about 30 lbs of force.
View attachment 5794
I guess I will just have to cover it with Bondo.

 

[Clone]

so i finally got some pictures of my dent. any suggestions on removing it?

without a $60 spoon that is?

That dent is way too big to use the canned air on. You could probably pull it out with a dent-king or a homemade equivalent, but you will need to do some filling and sanding to finish it up. I sincerely hope that you caught and kicked the crap out of the clown who dented your tank like that.

 

[Hammered]

http://www.tvproducts4less.com/ding-king.html?c=1&kw=dent removal kit

These have worked for me in the past. As long as the bent doesnt have a crrimp or crease in it, these work fine. And under $20 if it doesnt.

 

[Buffalo Bill]

Real bad tank dents?

Real bad tank dents?

For real bad tank dents, you got nothing to loose. Neatly as possible cut an access hole through the underside of the tank, (to keep it out of site) and hammer out the dent from the inside. Weld shut the access hole.