Looking for advice on a small tank dent.

[Flyboy]

There are two uses for body fill. The correct one in which it is sparingly used only as necessary and the other which it is used to preform an entire repair by gobbing it on.

Get the metal as well reshaped as possible then go from there. Tanks are pretty heavy gauge steel compared to body panels.

I have used the cooling and heating trick before without success.
I was using an inverted can of compressed air to do the cooling and a heat gun to heat the surface. Deformed metal can not return to its original state it will alwys have stretched to some degree.

Agreed 100%

[Flyboy]

I never said it wasnt hard to do, but you cant plate over filler. And there are some very good fabricators out there. And just so you can see, I present a chrome plate BSA fuel tank, sans ANY filler.

Absolutly stunning, I am not saying it is a requirment for every job, a good base will not always require filler, I will bet a nickle to a dime that tank had no serious dents to start with, all I am saying is, is that is not the evil that you profess it to be.

[JEEPRUSTY]

Absolutly stunning, I am not saying it is a requirment for every job, a good base will not always require filler, I will bet a nickle to a dime that tank had no serious dents to start with, all I am saying is, is that is not the evil that you profess it to be.

How could they get this so smooth? Lead filler? Thick copper plate that is then sanded down?

[Hammered]

Absolutly stunning, I am not saying it is a requirment for every job, a good base will not always require filler, I will bet a nickle to a dime that tank had no serious dents to start with, all I am saying is, is that is not the evil that you profess it to be.

Nope, tank was a rescue from a junk yard. All the repair work was done with a tig and took about 6 weeks of tap and bump work. Course Wonky (the gents name who did this tank) is more passionate about BSAs then his wife I think. Hes a bit of a loon though and by no means your average bodyman. Hes never used a bit of bondo in the 30 some years of doing what he does. IF he needs to fill, he prefers to lay fiberglass. It flexes easier with metal than filler and can add strength. Ive been prone to using spot filler in a few instances, but I stopped using poly filler since I met Wonky. Im not sure Id classify Poly filler as "evil" but I would stand behind the statement that its 100% unnecessary. Its the quick fix solution IMO.

[Nessism]

Absolutly stunning, I am not saying it is a requirment for every job, a good base will not always require filler, I will bet a nickle to a dime that tank had no serious dents to start with, all I am saying is, is that is not the evil that you profess it to be.

I'd like to see that tank up close. It wouldn't surprise me if there is some wavy metal in various places.

[tkent02]

All the repair work was done with a tig and took about 6 weeks of tap and bump work.

So roughly $6,000 or maybe $10,000 worth of labor charges, I'd rather use a little filler.

[Hammered]

So roughly $6,000 or maybe $10,000 worth of labor charges, I'd rather use a little filler.

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.

[Nessism]

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.

Or just fill some of the low spots with brazing alloy and sand flat.

[Hammered]

Or just fill some of the low spots with brazing alloy and sand flat.

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.

[posplayr]

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.

I might need to try that.

[frijoles-and-beans]

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.

[castlekin]

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.

[Steve]

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

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?".

.

[posplayr]

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

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?".

.

here is a dent removal picture

[frijoles-and-beans]

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