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Hi! I have a bent on my tank.
Did anyone try to remove such a bent on the gas tank?
Watched howtos on ytube and planning to give a try
Thanks.

 

[BlackBoar]

I had a shopping cart rammed in the side of my parked car years ago. Left a line of pretty deep dents. The car was only a week old! Dealership's autobody shop wanted $1000 to do the complete repair. I had a paintless dent removal guy do the work, in my driveway, for $125, and the damage is about 98% gone. I have to point it out in the sun for people to see it.

So, I don't see why it wouldn't work on a bike tank. I think as long as there is no crease and the paint is in tact you're good to go. Good luck

 

[mustanggt01]

I did for my car this listen take a heat gun heated where is da dent aleast for a good 5min n them use compressed air shoot it in da middle of da dent u goin to see pop

 

[[email protected]]

do you think it would be safe to heat up the gas tank?

 

[Bulletproof250r]

Years ago I pulled a dent out of the side my truck bed using a powerful suction cup. However if the dent is tiny (smaller than a large coin) then that might not work. I have a small ding in the gas tank of my Honda shadow I've been meaning to get out. Talking with some of my hillbilly friends they told me some time ago that you can pop out dents in a unlined gas tank. In theory they sound good but I'm too afraid to try the first one. Make sure tank is empty of gas too.
1. Compressed air (sealing off the tank and inducing air slowly to pressurize tank and it pops out dent). Or.......
2. Freezing out the dent. This sounds even crazier. Fill gas tank with water to fullest and seal it off tight so no water escapes. Then pop the tank in a freezer. When the water starts to freeze it expands and pops out the dent (in theory). However this will need constant attention because if you let freeze too long then it could further expand and distort or even bust a seam on the tank.
Sh*t us hillbillies will come up with.
However I don't think these way will work unless you remove everything from inside the tank i.e. whatever is in there for the fuel gauge and monitoring ect...

 

[David]

Both ideas sound ludicrous.
Have any of your "friends" tried either of these gimmicks?.....and lived to talk about it?

The physics is sound on both counts, but in option A, depending on how severe the dent is: are you sure an air compressor (~120 psi) is enough force to push out the dent without pushing anything else out of alignment?
What about the residual vapour left in the tank?

I'm really posing a question here: does anyone else see warning signs when mixing compressed air and fuel vapour?

Option B the expansion of the freezing water will push out with force in all directions. Not just the targeted area. The expansion will most distort the weakest parts of the tank, and that may not necessarily be the dent. Youre bang on that if you dont stop the process in time it will pop a seam like a beer can left in the freezer too long.

 

[Bulletproof250r]

Both ideas sound ludicrous.
Have any of your "friends" tried either of these gimmicks?.....and lived to talk about it?

The physics is sound on both counts, but in option A, depending on how severe the dent is: are you sure an air compressor (~120 psi) is enough force to push out the dent without pushing anything else out of alignment?
What about the residual vapour left in the tank?

I'm really posing a question here: does anyone else see warning signs when mixing compressed air and fuel vapour?

Option B the expansion of the freezing water will push out with force in all directions. Not just the targeted area. The expansion will most distort the weakest parts of the tank, and that may not necessarily be the dent. Youre bang on that if you dont stop the process in time it will pop a seam like a beer can left in the freezer too long.

Cool yer britches David. I'm not trying to get anyone killed here. I did say that these were some crazy ideas however the theory and I mean "theory" is there.

The metal at the site of the dent has weakened compared to the rest of the tank. When the pressure is induced, that then pressure will find the weak point in the metal and cause it to reshape,popout. In Theory.
As far as using compressed air nobody said to introduce 120psi into the tank. That's just plain idiotic. Where I work I offload railcars and tanker trailers full of dangerous chemical and we never use more than 20 psi into a vessel. Also as far as the fuel/ air mixture concern.. There are ways to get by that. 1. Drain all gas out of tank and let the tank sit open to evaporate remaining gas fumes. (that part may take awhile). 2. Don't smoke while your doing it. 3. Be in a very well ventilated area (like a military missile testing site). 4. Wear a suit like someone who works for the bomb squad. From what I heard is that minimal psi is needed to achieve this and if the air was Slowly introduced into the tank then risk could be kept at minimal.
As far as the freezing tank idea... I've heard of this a couple of times. Some old Harely guys said thats how they popped out dents back in the 50's and 60's. It was a cheap way to fix a tank without taking it to someone fix or buying a new tank. Another buddy bought an original W.W.II OD green jerry gas can for his Jeep. It had a dent on one of the flat sides (bout size of a quarter). He said that was how he fixed the dent on the can. He filled it with water. Stuck it in a freezer and popped most of the dent. You can still see it a little but for the most part it can do it. However if the tank has a weaker point such as a weld seam, it will burst the tank and that would be no good.

 

[David]

* huh *