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Can a dented fuel tank be repaired


MaxSwell

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I have at least two gas tanks with dents in them. One I accidently dropped while maneuvering it around. Another with bigger dent put there when a deer slammed my knee into the tank. That one broke the paint. And my left little finger. And possibly another from an off-road excursion. (blush). 

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It’s really pretty easy when the fuel pump is out. I shaped a piece of hard wood and worked it slowly with a hammer until it only needed a little light weight finishing filler. The metal is thin. My CB500X has a pretty bad crease and I was able to save it.


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Thanks for the responsed folks. I'm going to try my friend sweeper's technique. The dents are fairly large and the harbor freight tool got some negitive reviews so I'll save that for later, if necessary.

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I used one of the HF tools and had pretty good luck on simple dent pulling. The CB's tank was creased and had to be beat back out. Just don't use anything with a sharp edge because it will show. If you go too far, just tap from the outside. You don't have much to lose by trying. Good luck with it.

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On 9/16/2019 at 8:33 PM, VFR4Lee said:

Bondo. Sand sand sand. Prime. Paint.

That sounds like a lot of work requiring talent.

 

On 9/16/2019 at 3:40 PM, Dutchy said:

Easy....   :beer:

 

 

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Bagster tank bag system :tour:

This looks like the answer for a lazy untalented person. Except that this machine started out yellow; it's a Y2K. If I can't find all the yellow fairings I may do a two-tone red and yellow version. Today I'm taking my Y2K to have the broken subframe attachment point tig welded. Then the rebuild really can start. 

 

I do intend to try to gently tap it back out with a piece of wood from the inside.

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Terry,
If you go at it from the inside, you will need paint. I had to tap out and back in over the whole area. Can’t find a pic of how oil canned it was.


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sanding body filler into shape is really pretty easy but you don't want your bondo to be thicker than 1/4" because plastic and metal expand at different rates with temperature (and you'll see a lot of that between fresh fuel or sitting in the sun). pound out the dents from the inside best you can. many dents can also me massaged from the outside if you hit the right spots (youtube). that dent puller is good for non-body line areas. just make sure you use a 2k urethane clear when you respray (spraymax makes a rattle can 2k) so it's solvent resistant. 

 

here's my CBR tank for example. tank was like that when i bought it so i have no idea how it happened. previous owner did a terrible job with the repair (bondo over 1" thick).

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On 9/18/2019 at 9:44 AM, MaxSwell said:

That sounds like a lot of work requiring talent.

 

It's been a long time, but I just did the Bondo best I could, then turned it over to a pro who did some more sanding, then painted it. Bondo is pretty easy. Getting a good paint job not so much. Of course some ahole keyed it not long after. I'm glad I have my own garage these days.

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