dent repair

well i bought my bike with this huge dent in the tank. i'm hoping to have it fixed by spring and i'm not sure if i should just bondo it or try to pull it out... then bondo it smooth. what do you guys think




the dent is from the bike tipping over off of the side stand onto a square corner of a trailer. wich makes sense because the front shocks are so week that if you rest the bike on the side stand a light breeze would blow it over

 

Buy the dent-popper from Harbor Freight. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/d ... umber=3223 . This little baby will spot weld studs onto the metal and let you pull out the dent with a slide hammer. Reasonably priced for those small jobs and you can do it yourself and save bucks!

 

I'd pull that out as best I could before I tried the bondo. The less bondo you use the better.

You can get the stud gun like robert suggested, or there are glue on dent pullers, they are cheaper but I have no idea how effective they may be

 

well i don't know about that dent popper. for $120 i could probably get another tank of ebay or something. any other idea's before i fill it in?

 

You could try Paintless dent removal. Those bent rods work great!! I had a pretty good dent in mine and thats how I got mine out pretty good with very little bondo. That is a pretty good dent with deep creases. But I would try and get it out the best I could, thats alot of bondo.
Good Luck!!!!!

 

Agreed - too deep for filler - don't think you would be happy with the outcome. Can you remove the fuel guage sending unit and tap it out from the other side with a wooden dowell? Also remember that this will have stretched the metal and you will have to leave a shallower dent and use some filler.

Good luck.

 

It might not be everyones go, but I pulled mine out with self tapping screws & a claw hammer, fill the holes with pop rivets.

 

Just think of the loss of capacity that dent causes too.....

 

i wouldn't even try to fix it just put a nice paint job on it and fron then on it'll
be "the dent"
some dents just **** ya off but that's the grand daddy of dents, kind of the high light of the tank
some people have custom paint, you've got "the dent"

 

i agree with Wizard...

use some self tapping screws to pull the dent out then bondo...

 

The metal in our tanks is pretty stout. Must be the way it was formed from the factory. Take your time and use a good stud welder to pop those studs on there. Keep the heat down so you don't burn through. Which reminds me. Clean that tank out real good so there are no fumes in it. Would not want to hear about an mishap with the stud welder and some gas fumes. You can do it!!!!!! Show us pictures through the process.

 

go with polocks idea and safe the money for airbrushing, then find someone who can paint it to look like a hole with a gremlin climbing out... or maybe you should just try the self taping screws, I have a spare tank with a big dent I think I'm going to try it to!
Shaun

 

Wizard, you say use pop rivets to fill the holes......then what. How do you cover it up? Can you elaborate on this? Thanks!

 

Once you have pulled the dent out to amost flush, use 2 pack filler & shape to the contour of the tank. I also sealed the tank after all the dents were filled, to be sure of no leaks.