get a load of this gas tank

This is the tank that came with my Maxim. This is what the PO described as a "ding on the tank from where somebody dropped something on it." :roll:

 

dropped a freeking TREE maybe.....holy crap man!

ps...the IMG isnt coming up....i had to copy and paste to the address bar to see it.

HERE IS THE LINK

 

ROFL,
Sure enough it has a ding from something being dropped on it.

Weel could upgrade that to "crushed"

Man, it must have been a good bike you bought it anyway.

But beauty is in the eye of the beholder

Anyway I trust you've replaced and it looks great now

 

Yeah, I didn't take a pic of this, but the dent actually deformed the UNDER side of the tank, I found out, when I took it off. And, yeah, this whole topic isn't technically a "question" so I probably shouldn't have put it technical forum. The bike is amazingly clean overall, but it was hard for him to haggle with me with that giant dent in the tank.

 

My mom totalled her Volvo once many years ago (they really are safe cars... head-on collision, no one hurt and she even started it and moved it out of the way after the accident to get it off the road). I wonder if the PO you got the bike from would have classified a smashed in front end as a "ding" as well? lol

 

The gas cap looks nice. *lol*

 

Man if that's a ding I 'd hate to see a dent in this guy's eyes...

 

that'll buff out!!!!

LOL!!

when I think of a ding I think a size of a quarter or less..

 

OMG. He didn't try to pass it off as "easily repaired" did he? Or better yet "barely noticeable?" My '83 Seca came with "paint chips" that turned out to be deep DINGS. I still haven't figured out exactly what befell my Seca, it WAS a "tipover" not a crash (no lateral scrapes) but I think it "tipped" off a truck, damage so severe. Any idea what "got dropped" on the tank (like a telephone pole maybe?)

 

Wait, our gas tanks aren't supposed to look like that?

 

My bike fell over last winter when the ground turned to mush when it unfroze.It has a smaller dent then the one in the pic.If you were to fix it would bondo work alright or would you use a dent puller?

 

Looks to me like his wife dropped a baseball bat on it...while going for his HEAD!!! 8O LOL Good thing he didn't say it needed some work 8O

 

This is a current bike for sale on ebay in Australia. The description states "Has minor accident scrapes", however I believe a more complete description might be "Has minor bullet holes while running from the cops". Check out the picture of the Tank.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/Yamaha-XJ-650-H- ... dZViewItem

 

Don't use a Dent Puller.
Not one that you have to pierce the sheet metal with a hole to use,, anyway!

Pull-out that dent by using the Dent Pulling System that welds a Copper rivet to the metal and leave the "Tail" if the rivet to be grabbed by a special-fitting slugging hammer that comes with the kit.

The problem with conventional Dent Pullers is the Hole in the Tank.
Welding them up is a major PITH.
Even at Low-Heat it's really easy to make a big mess of things.

The Copper Rivet Weld-on Tool is the way to go.
The integrity of the sheet metal is not compromised and all you have to do when the dent is pulled-out is grind-off the nubs of the welded-on rivets after snipping them off with cutters.

http://usaweld.com/products/auto_body_tools/index.htm

 

Good info as always, Rick. If I can get some spare change over the winter, I might pick one of those little kits up. I also have an old Jeep Comanche I've been stripping to bare metal that is getting a new paint job in the coming months. This kit should also work well for that, too.

 

Follow up on that tank. Thanks, Rick, actually I already ordered a tank from a place here in Oregon that has one. I looked into pulling the dent, but the piercing the tank issue, I only have the screw-in type dent puller, and it was just easier to replace the tank(you should see my Honda Prelude, I replaced hood fenders and bumper rather than do real body work) :wink: Also, as you can see the cap is junk, and I think when I was tipping it around dumping the fuel out, I noticed a leak in the very back, near where it attaches to the seat, long story short, new tank.

 

You don't need to BUY it.
You can do to a Rental Company and rent one.

They charge a flat rate for the rental and short additional money to replenish the rivets you use.

Working a gash like that out is going to take a load of rivets.
They're cheap!
Work from the OUTSIDE toward the Middle.
Pull the Outside perimeter of the damage out and keep working as you get closer to the crease.

It's time consuming.
Worth the trouble; too.
Because its Non-invasive and will save that tank with no problem!

 

What do you mean there's a "ding" on the tank?
That looks brand new!

 

This is why I'm not pulling the dent: I just suck at even the most basic body work. And don't give me that practice makes perfect stuff, I've tried it on everything I've ever owned and it never looks good.

I've done nothing since that last post on this but sand and prime the tank I got(which has nothing wrong with it, no dents, anyway) and can't even get that right. No matter how much I sand and however much "filler" primer I use, as soon as I start priming, it looks like my tank has leprosy. I've stripped off green paint if came with, sanded, primed, stripped off that primer, because too many bumps and dips, sanded more, primed, sanded, it's garbage. That's with a straight tank, that just needs painted. I know it needs a coat of bondo, but as soon as I touch Bondo to anything, I can NEVER get it smooth. I have all different grit paper, and an orbital sander, nothing works, filler primer is a joke, might as well be water.

I'm pretty bitter right now, I'd trade that dented tank and my ugly primed one for one black non-rusty tank with paint already on it.

 

I'm with you on this, brother. I've been wrenching on cars for over a decade now and I've got that down pretty good, but if you try to get me to do any body work, forget it! I can't tell you how many dents I've tried to pull and fill in with Bondo, nothing ever works. When I go to seek advice, people tell me to use this kind of metal cleaner and that kind of sandpaper, but the prices keep adding up so much that it would just be cheaper to take it to a body shop and have them do it.

One thing I have found on a couple of my successful body work jobs is you've gotta have a heck of a lot of patience and a good eye for this type of work as it's definitely an "art" in a sense. With as much practice as I've given myself with body work, I still won't let anyone but the pros touch my good vehicles. All of the work I do is on old junkers that would probably just need to go to the wrecker anyway

 

There IS an Art to making a successful repair to a damaged part of bodywork.
There is a "Learning Curve" to the art. You also have to develop an "Eye" and a "Feel" for doing the filling-in of a dent or removing rash or dings from bodywok.

Start small.
The process for which a small ding is eventually repaired shares many of the processes you have to do to repair a major dent.
Preparing the straightened surface for the application of filler material requires having the right tools and equipment.
Applying the Repair Filler requires "Touch" and "Feel" for knowing how long you can work with the filler until it approaches where is is beginning to cure and must be left alone to do so.

Shaping the filler requires an "Eye" for details.
As we have heard in the introduction of this thread; unless the work you do IS actually perfect ... the outcome will look just awful when the surface gets primed and painted.

 

I never followed up on this, there's how it stands now, when I got tired of monkeying with it. Also, wanted to, you know, ride it, so put tank on with weird bumbs and pits and whatnot,

http://www.xjbikes.com/modules/coppermi ... ke_007.jpg

 

Maximike,

I have the solution(s) for your problem(s).

1.). Strip the stuff off that you put on your replacement tank and find someone to prep and paint it for you.

2.). Take the original tank, rent a dent puller doo-hickey, spend countless hours trying to pull the dent, fill, prime, sand, fill, prime, sand, sand, sand, paint, sand, paint, sand, paint, sand, clear coat, sand, polish, wait, wax.

Or, see number 1 above. And in a week you can ride the bike and enjoy it.

I'm with you. I would choose door number 1.

 

1982 XJ650?

 

Are you asking if it's a 650? Nope, XJ750, same as in my sig. Only Maxim I've got, still have that dented tank, in the garage somewhere. I think it's even rust free, strangely enough.

(Edit: or were you asking if someone DROPPED an xj650 on it? hahahahaha, that's pretty good, who knows, it's from an insurance auction in Texas, I live in Oregon, and it had a University of Michigan parking sticker on it, it's been around)

As for stripping the spraypaint off the new one. I actually had a pretty good coating of glossy black paint on it, then stupidly got lacquer on enamel or vice versa, and had to strip it off.

So in total, I took off rusty green paint, primed, sanded, painted, re-stripped, primed sanded, painted, etc, clearcoated, and so on, I have a friend on my Dragon Boat team who does some paint work, I'm still trying to get him to do it. But it needs sanding and a layer of Bondo.

But, like I say, I'm riding it NOW and really, the tank's no uglier than the rest of the bike, (it still doesn't have a battery cover) but I want stuff that I do to it to be perfect. I just lack the skills, sometime I'll post a pic of all the empty cans of crap and wet\dry sandpaper and 5in random orbital sander discs I went through trying to create a smooth finish.

 

Maxi, youre in Oregon? Where, Im just south of The Dalles in Dufur.

 

Ah, the Dalles, they were one of our arch-rivals in in high school. I'm from Banks, mostly (don't tell anybody, can't stand the place) then went away to join the Marines, now I'm back, well, 15 years I've been back, and am in the Portland area, my parents always wonder why I live in the city when we were such country people, but I like to be close to more than one store. Oh, and have it be open past six at night. Now I wouldn't mind having 20 acres in downtown Portland, but I'll give up my space before I give up civilization.

Oh, bike forum, right, uh, I adjusted the back brake switch, I saw Rick mention it somewhere and remembered from my old CB750 that it was easy to do. Now to get that play out of the clutch cable.