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Question Posted By: Meat_&_Cheese on 8-17-2006
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| Make of Bike: |
HD |
| Model of Bike |
FXLR |
| Year of Bike |
1994 |
| Engine Size |
80 ci |
| Other info on Bike |
Custom Fatbob tank dicontinued by HD, has dent, needs repair....
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| What's your question? |
Has anyone ever tried feezing water in a tank to pop out dents?
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| Details: |
Some iditot pulled a sharp left uwey off the shoulder and I t-boned him, wrecked my front end and dented my tank--the dent is from the upper t.tree, and on the frt. right of the tank--it's deep and HD no longer makes the tank so I have to fix it. The tank is like a old low-rider tank, but made for a late FXR,,it's a molded tank. I'm wondering how to repair the dent...Maybe by 'freezing' the tank? Or should I weld some tabs on and pull the dent out?
any suggestions would be appreciated. This might be a job for a pro, I don't know. |
Answers:
- Depends on the size of the dent. If it's a big dent you could spend days of freezing, thawing, adding a little more water, freezing, etc. If it's a small dent you take the chance of over-expanding the metal and splitting the seams. That is...unless you've got a masters degree in liquid-to-solid expansion dynamics. Then you'll be okay.
What I suggest is: sand, not grind, all the paint off inside and around the dent. Take the tank down to any reputable Body & Fender shop and have them pull the dent out with their Stud Welding Dent Puller. It welds on nail-thin studs--then they use a special twist-to-lock slide hammer to pull the dent out. When they're done they just snip the studs at the head, grind of the welded nub...and voila. You just lightly grind the area, throw on a coat of Bondo, sand & primer.
Freezing it "won't" push the dent out to where it's not noticeable. Don't let anybody sell you on that. Here's what the tool looks like:  By: 47Knuckle-Dragger on: 8-17-2006
- Thanks, KD. I'd thought as much, and those are the exact tools my painter has..he even let me play with that little tig gun. LOL I thought I might be able to get by without the welding gun, and a bro (RIP, John) told me last year how he'd had such good luck freezing tanks out. John always acted like a professor, but I doubted his wisdom re: tank-freezing. I'll take the tank to my painter and see if he'll just zap it and pull out the dent.
Thanks for the picture of the gun and little studs with the slam hammer. If anyone hasn't see that little setup, and if you've got about $2K, it's a really slick deal that you could even make money with. LOL
Once again, The Knuck come through!
Respects, M & C By: Meat_&_Cheese on: 8-18-2006
- Meat you might also want to check out one of those paintless dent repair places. I have seen them work out some NASTY dents with absolutely perfect results. I have never paid more than 75 or 80 bucks to have it done. If I did it the traditional way I would have spent hundreds. Plus they do it while you wait.
They usually go by names such as Dent Wizard, Dent Doctor, etc.
I have never asked if they would do a bike tank, though. (because the last time I needed that service, the cager's insurance company bought me a new tank!) By: HD2pct on: 8-21-2006
- The metal on your tank is to thick to do the paintless dent removal thing. The little stud welding thing works great! I just fixed a tank that I was gonna toss in the dumpster and it looks better than new. By: godzilla on: 9-10-2006
- One of my bro's uses a torch and a bucket of water to pull out dents..
He heats up the dented area until its cherry red and then dips his hand in the bucket of water and then flicks it on to the glowing dent.
The metal makes a weird creaking noise when it contracts. Use a soft flame (none of that blow torch shit).
It takes practice to completely remove a dent to the point that it can't be seen. (He can do it, I can't yet) He told me he learned this from a guy that restored Packards for show purposes. They take off points for bondo and replaced fenders so it was important to fix the originals...
Be sure to rinse the tank out thoroughly and leave the cap off or you might get a nasty surprise too. By: Stric9 on: 11-19-2006
Reads: 3619
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