Tank Dent Removal

[BA80]

I have this tank and I want to refurbish it for my SF because it's really not in bad shape. It has a dent in the side right where the badge mounts so I can't just fill it. I'm not a very good body man so I was hoping someone could help me figure out how to pop this out.

[jwhughes3]

Drill a hole

Then use a slide hammer.

Then fill with lead (body lead, not the other kind you just get a leaky tank that way)

John

[crazy steve]

Greg, how deep is the dent? And I take it you want to keep the badge mount?

That dent doen't look all that deep, so I'd just prep it and fill it with bondo. If the badge mount is pushed in, pry that out to where it's supposed to be and fill behind it. Put a sacrificial screw in the hole so you don't foul the threads, after the body work is mostly done remove it.

For prep, I'd recommend sandblasting the area; that will remove all the paint and leave a rough enough surface for the plastic to stick well...

[BA80]

That's probably what I'll end up doing Steve, it's not deep at all. The pic shows it pretty well.

I've heard some about using dry ice to remove small dents like this. Any thoughts on that?

[crazy steve]

Dry ice works for removing dents like hail dents; ones that are relatively small/shallow. I don't think you'd have much luck here.

One other thing you could try... The tank on the SG I rebuilt/sold last year was worse than yours, I removed the worst of the dents by working in through the fill opening. I had a bent piece of 1" steel rod (with about a 8" 'hook' on the end) that I stuck inside the tank against the dent then whacked right above the fill opening towards the dent. That knocked most of the dents out and helped restore the tank contours.

The big thing with plastic is it doesn't like shock/flexing when it's too thick. So that's why there's a big caution against that when using it; do that on a car door/hood/deck lid and it will fall off. But a bike tank (with it's rounded contours) has near-zero flex, and if you have a good rough surface for it to stick to, no problem. I've filled some deep tank dents and never had any problems...

[natemoen]

Stud welder and a slide hammer.

[motoman]

Stud welder and a slide hammer.

+1........that will get the worst of it out, and using less filler will be less apt to pop out. Most body shops have the gun and rivets. Bet for a few bucks and five minutes a bodyshop and stud-gun will pop the worst of that out.

[crazy steve]

I'd personally be reluctant to use a welded stud and slide hammer on these tanks; Yamaha used an awfully thin 'high strength' metal for these and I can see you tearing a hole in the tank pretty easily.

I'd rather have thick bondo than try to fix a hole....

[planedick]

Man

The guy gives you the answer and you got better ideas. Stud welder works great, especially on thin metal like those cars from Korea.... Take it to a body shop and ask them what they think...

[Laptop_geek]

I've heard of using a bike tire tube to fix dents. Place the uninflated tube in the tank and position it where it will push the dent out. Fill it with air, then deflate and repeat. I've never tried it, but a guy I was talking to swore by it, thought I'd pass on the suggestion anyway.

[XJfan1]

mine had a dent in the same spot but it was alot larger. i cut out the entire dent with a cutoff wheel massaged the dent out of the peice and weled it back in the finished the body work with a thin coat filler then coated the inside of the tank. turned out nice.

[Dragon Tamer]

The dry ice idea is good, it is usually used on smaller dents because it is hard to get it into contact with a larger area. I would try it, all you would be out is a piece of dry ice if it does not work. I have also seen body shop guys use a C02 fire extinquisher. What it spits out is actually dry ice if you get it close enough. Just get it right close to the dent and spray a healthy layer of the dry ice on the dent. It helps if you have had the tank out in the sun for a while so the rest of it is nice and hot.

If it should not work you have done no more damage to the tank and can try another method.

[jetmechmarty]

Those DentWizard folks have tools to get in there and massage it out. It might be an inexpensive option.