1985 v45 Dented gas tank :(

[MarylandMagnav45]

Hey All:

I'm not sure if I mentioned it in my last post, but about 8 months ago, I asked my neighbor who owns a v30 Magna to ride my bike while I've been in school up in NY.  Well, about 8 months ago, he dropped my Magna in the driveway.

I got a couple of body shops to take a look at it, and they told me to fix the dent it would be $200, and to repaint it Candy red it would be $100...for a total of $300.  At the moment, for cosmetic work, I can't afford to do it.  I put some candy red rustoleum over it to prevent the tank from rusting.

Now, I've been averaging about $600 a year spent on my Magna since I got it 4 years ago just based on repairs and custom work.

Could someone offer me the best solution in terms of fixing the dent?  I'm not very handy when it comes to bodywork, and I don't know of anyone who will do it for me outside of a shop for less.

Its a real shame because I've taken real good care of my Magna, and now I have a softball sized dent on the tank. 

[TLRam1]

Pretty deep dent you have.

Someone will have some ideas, they might be afraid of ridicule when posted though.  That's why I am keeping mine to myself. Looks too deep to try air or water and you would have to probably pour plaster around your tank in a crate to keep the structure from bending in other parts. Pros weld studs and use a slide hammer, what about another tank from the fleabay arena or craigslist.

Curtis or Charles might be your man though. Sure is easy to volunteer someone else.

[drkngas]

Go to autozone and buy a small package of bondo.  sand and fill the dent.  find some matching paint or repaint the bike.  I just painted a Rebel tank in my garage.  I give the paint job a B- but you cant tell where the dent was.

[Jester]

Your neighbor didn 't offer to fix it?     maybe you should talk to him about it... perhaps he would be willing to pay for all or part of the repair...  just an idea..

[Charles S Otwell]

First do you have a wire welder or know someone with a wire welder or tig either one, even torch with small bazing tip. If so you can pop the dent out from the inside. This will only get it close enough so you won't have to put to thick a layer of body filler. The tank has to be removed, the petcock has to be removed, the tank emptied,air dried and the flushed  with Hot soapy water, rinsed and flushed again. Then you can drill a small 1/4 inch hole on the inside of the tank opposite the dent use a 1/4 inch rod and small hammer to slowly tap the dent out. Becareful not to push the dent to far out, when you get it close enough that your body filler won't be over a 1/16th to an 1/8th thick stop and block sand the dented area to make sure there aren't any high spots, if there are tap them down gently. you need to remove the paint from this area and some times that is easier to do before you start tapping the dent. Fill the area with body filler and block sand with about an 80 grit, just to get the shape don't worry about getting it smooth on the first try two thin layers are better than one thick layer. the second layer should be just thick enouh to fill in the scratches and any imperfections from the first. You can repeat this process until you achieve the look you want. If you have a lot of bare metal showing put a coat of etching primer on the bare metal Use a good filler primer and sand with wet or dry 400 grit repeat this process using finer grit paper each time until all the sanding marks are gone. last final light coat to make sure there is no bare metal showing and your ready to paint. For the best job paint the whole tank, But first go back and weld up the small 1/4 inch hole on the under side of tank. If you choose not to pop the dent out, but to just fill it in like it is. same thing applies remove all paint, but apply several thin layers and allow them to dry good between layers , too thick  and it will eventually shrink and show thru the paint.

[MarylandMagnav45]

Your neighbor didn 't offer to fix it?     maybe you should talk to him about it... perhaps he would be willing to pay for all or part of the repair...  just an idea..

He did offer to fix it (by taking it to Autozone) but he's an old timer in his 80s on retirement with his wife.  Since I had asked him politely to ride it to keep the fluids running (i.e. i didn't want to put it in storage), I didn't want to tell him after he hurt his ribs when he fell off to pay for the damages after he was doing me a favor.

I don't know, maybe I should, but I'd feel bad.

[lragan]

Hey, man, I hope to still be riding in my 80's -- hurt ribs or no.  You are right to pay for it yourself. 

Don't be afraid of painting the tank.  You will have to remove it from the bike, of course, as Charles outlines above. 

I lost both side panels from my bike, which has a custom paint job -- one of the reasons I liked it at first sight.  Couldn't get anyone to repaint the new panels to match, so I had to learn to do it myself.  After a couple of false starts, it turned out pretty well.  The web site here:

http://www.manoian.net/jeep/amber_fire_pearlcoat_paint.html

was most helpful to me (yeah, I know, it is about painting a jeep, but paint is paint, and the principles apply to tanks and side panels!)  I did not go through the whole bit with water and plastic, just picked a still day and painted outside.  The few dust particles polished out and are not at all visible.

Good luck, man.  Let us know how you resolve it.

[Charles S Otwell]

You might also try a high school body shop or a techincal school in you area. You might have to get on a waiting list but they usually just charge for parts. One of our jails even has a body shop for a work program. Just a couple of thoughts.