Dented gas tank

[tomkat]

I have a 1978 r100/7 I'm going to paint it. The tank has a few dents.I talked to a owner of a body shop he told me to fill the tank with water and freeze it. This should pop out the dents . The tank is very thin gage metal I'm afraid it will spilit the tank.

[lorazepam]

Have you considered paintless dent removal? if there is direct access to the dent from the filler neck, these guys use wire tools to "massage" dents from doors using wire tools. It they are good at it they can do some amazing things. It is worth a shot if you are afraid of the water trick.

Just dont fill it all the way up, just enough so that the ice can push the dent out.

[James.A]

Unless the dents are large or creased, a highly competent body man could pick them internally. The very best guys can do it without breaking the paint if the paint wasn't splintered when the dent was made. I'd be happy to send pictures of a freshly re-painted tank for my R75/5 and the phone number of the guy who did it. It was wavy at the feature line on the left side and had 3 sharp hits when I dropped it off.

[James.A]

Sorry Loraz, I stepped all over ya on that one.

[kioolt]

I'd say try the paintless dent repair also. They did wonders with my car.

[manicmechanic]

Going through that right now on the R90/6. Planning on using a stud gun to pull the dents. If that doesn't work then maybe put some gas in it and torch it :doh Just kidding about the gas. Using a stud gun will spot-weld nail-like pieces to the metal, then use a dent puller, then finish up with some tapping and smoothing. Depends on how big the dent is. Sure beats drilling into the metal and putting screws in for the puller, then brazing over the holes.

[tomkat]

Unless the dents are large or creased, a highly competent body man could pick them internally. The very best guys can do it without breaking the paint if the paint wasn't splintered when the dent was made. I'd be happy to send pictures of a freshly re-painted tank for my R75/5 and the phone number of the guy who did it. It was wavy at the feature line on the left side and had 3 sharp hits when I dropped it off.
Yes I'D like to see a picture of your gas tank and phone number thank you Tom

[rcryan]

I just did the paintless removal with "Dent Dr." on an R90S tank. You have to study the tank very closely to find where the dent was. They will assess the likelyhood of success when you take it in.

[lorazepam]

I was told, but never tried it, that if you take a piece of dry ice, and hold it on a dent, the low temps will shrink the dent out. It is pretty cold stuff. If it doesn't work, toss it in a bucket of water and make some fog. I used to work on industrial equipment that used dry ice.

[James.A]

Yes I'D like to see a picture of your gas tank and phone number thank you Tom

This is the side that was wavy at the bottom.

[James.A]

Yes I'D like to see a picture of your gas tank and phone number thank you Tom

This side had a hit in the large field and a hit at about 2 o'clock slightly forward of the feature line. There was also a ding on top(not pictured)

[The_Veg]

I'm dubious about the freezing method because anything that uses expansion inside the tank could also cause the tank to widen by means of the tunnel trying to open up. I've seen it happen to a guy who used compressed air to try to pop a dent. Also the freezing water is not that controllable. Even if the tank isn't distorted overall who's to say you won't bust a seam?

[King]

I used compressed air to take out a large dent. Yes, you need to be careful that you don't overpressurize the tank and blow a seam. It's simple, quick, and a small amount of compressed air will generate surprising force. I think it probably works better with large dents. If the dent is small, or has sharp edges, you may need to use some of the other methods. My $.02.