Tank Dent Repair

[Guest]

I have a rather large dent in my tank and was wondering if this tool may work to pull it out. If anyone has expertise in this let me know,

Here's the dent



Can I use a suction deal like this?

[barnbiketom]

You might try it but i suspect it won't attach on right.. the crease is too small and deep to grab.
I'd make some tools out of 3/16" x 1/2" strap.

bend them so they fit in the tank and gently massage the dent out till it is at least better.

you might need 3 tools to do that dent, because the curve of the tunnel gets in the way to press against the dent al over.

If you get something to try it, make sure the ends of the tools are rounded and smooth with gentle radii.

[Road Rash]

From my past experience with a fairly thick-ass tank, several things were effective: using a heat gun to heat the affected area then rapidly freezing and shrinking the metal with canned air turned upside down took 2/3 of the dent out. Took several attempts, but quite effective. The other was a cheapie dent kit from HF. Comes with a glue gun and glue sticks as well as a crossbar and pulling pads. Apply the melted stick to the area and immediately press pad into glue and allow it to set up. Once set, thread crossbar over pad and use the screwing action to pull the metal. Mine was on that thick tank and in a rough spot, so the pulling force not only pulled half the dent but also yanked off half the paint in the dent! Wow! My current project that is identical to yours, I will be stripping the tank prior to the pull, anyway, so that issue will not be present, plus these tanks feel less dense than the previous tank.

[wedoo2]

Thanks to both of you. I kind of figured that I would have problems with the round tool. I watched several videos of guys using their tools to pry the dents out. They were quite sore. If you think that the glue is strong enough with the crossbar deal, I may try that first. I was just worried that the glue wouldn't hold; but I have watched video of the procedure. They were on cars and the metal might not have been as thick as tanks.

I will post a progress thread here in this spot when I do it. If it worked or not.

[nvr2old]

It's too deep and sharp for suction, for sure. The glued on tabs might work, but again, it's a really sharp dent. I would use a stud gun and a slide hammer. A body shop might be willing to do it for you because they're a bit pricey. If you do it yourself, start from the outside of the dent and work your way to the deepest part..don't start in the middle and work your way out, it'll just stretch the metal horribly. Any way it's done will require a bit of plastic filler to get it smooth again.

[Ranger]

Pull the tank off, make sure theres no fuel at all and then heat it with a torch slightly, cool it with dry ice and apply pressure from inside if you can. I used to do it to my truck bed all the time after wheeling.

It takes some tricky workmanship but it can be done, otherwise everything else mentioned here has worked at one time.

[Road Rash]

No different than the heat gun / compressed air trick, although a heat gun is safer and the compressed air is easier to find than dry ice. At least around here, it is.

[jeffasaurus2]

+1 on the Heat gun/Dry Ice. I used it for some smaller dents in one of my tanks, definitely helped with them but it certainly isnt perfect.

Tried the glue gun dent puller thingy also, it was able to make a difference in some of the ones that the heat gun/dry ice didnt but again, it wasnt a miracle worker.

[rustybronco]

It's too deep and sharp for suction, for sure.

+1 for the man who knows what he's talking about.

That dent is way to sharp in the crease to remove it by suction and (or) glue stick methods of dent removal. It will require some sort of force applied to the underside of it in conjunction with a body hammer, or some sort proper dent removal equipment firmly attached to the top surface.

[barnfresh 78gs]

try everything above first, but to get it right you will have to strip it to bare metal, hammer down the high spots and bondo the low spots... use a foam rubber sanding pad because of the curves... but WARNING... its a complicated surface and difficult to make perfect... if you have never done work like this before, this might be one for a professional... good luck!!!

[Road Rash]

Well, I decided to start working on mine, and so far, I have not had much luck. Went through 3 cans of canned air and barely any amount of success. Been trying my gluegun pulling kit and have already managed to break one of the paddles. When it wasn't self-destructing, it was popping off before any progress could be made. In a bout of frustration, I have adhered one of the paddles to the offending area with 5 minutes epoxy, to see if THAT will pull it out (I must add that this is a modified paddle, in that I welded a metal base to the stem. This paddle had previously broken, same as the current one did.)

[MOC]

i saw someone remove a dent from a tank with a blood pressure cuff. just drain the tank and air it out for a little while, slide the deflated cuff down the filler hole to the side of the tank that's dented, then inflate it. it's good because you don't deform the filler cap hole trying to pry with a lever, and it's cheap. you can get a cuff on ebay for 20 bucks.

haven't tried it myself, but its worth a shot, and i plan on using the same technique on my tank.

[Road Rash]

Actually tried the BP cuff idea, yesterday. It didn't work. I did have a little idea. I'm in the garage, scratching my head in disgust cause nothing's working, thinking about all the spent blobs of glue stick remains in my trash and how it's a shame that I can't reuse it. Then I remembered the little melting pot for making cable ends I had made out of a pipe cap and some other parts. I clamped it in my vice with my heat gun aimed under it and started to cut up the glue pieces into smaller bits and dropping them in the pot. Took no time at all till it melted. I took the dent pulling kit instructions and threw it in the trash. The amount of glue they instruct you to use is simply not enough. All said and done, I probably unloaded about a stick onto the paddle and dent. HOLY SMOKES! I was afraid I was gonna break something! The grip it had was incredible! I don't know if re-melting it increased it's strength or something, all I know is most of the dent is now pulled out and I can start priming and filling, soon.

[wedoo2]

Actually tried the BP cuff idea, yesterday. It didn't work. I did have a little idea. I'm in the garage, scratching my head in disgust cause nothing's working, thinking about all the spent blobs of glue stick remains in my trash and how it's a shame that I can't reuse it. Then I remembered the little melting pot for making cable ends I had made out of a pipe cap and some other parts. I clamped it in my vice with my heat gun aimed under it and started to cut up the glue pieces into smaller bits and dropping them in the pot. Took no time at all till it melted. I took the dent pulling kit instructions and threw it in the trash. The amount of glue they instruct you to use is simply not enough. All said and done, I probably unloaded about a stick onto the paddle and dent. HOLY SMOKES! I was afraid I was gonna break something! The grip it had was incredible! I don't know if re-melting it increased it's strength or something, all I know is most of the dent is now pulled out and I can start priming and filling, soon.

Do you have any pictures of all this Roadrash? Which puller did you use?

[BigD_83]

Road_Rash: The problem with those pullers is they are not designed for the strong steel of our GS tanks so I'm not surprised you need more glue. Nicely done!

Let's see more pictures of the process.

Weedo2...that dent is nasty being so sharp. The glue idea is probably not going to work for you, but if you try, make sure you start at the edges and work your way inward.