SAFETY FIRST – PLEASE remember to drain and flush tanks prior to doing repairs. One gallon of gasoline fumes can explode with the force of about 20 sticks of dynamite.
Dent repair using traditional automotive bodywork tools may lead to more damage. A perfect example is the use of the very common stud welder/puller equipment. The idea is to weld a stud to the tank, then pull on that stud. The problems created are substantial. The studs are often broken away from the tank, leaving small holes. Typically these holes are brazed, which is OK, so long as they don’t leak. But you have to wonder if the damage done in trying to remove dents is worth the time and expense.
There are a few newer alternate methods which do less damage but they are not without their limitations. Nonetheless, when they work, they are pretty cool. These involve “paintless dent repair” using prying tools and glue-on studs for a slide hammer, and sometimes even inflatable bladders. Let me run through them briefly:
- Prying / levering rods may be frustrating because though videos online show awesome results, it’s a fact that older motorcycle tanks often involve a filler neck that extends down inside the tank. This obstructs the pry bar. I’ve done a bit of this, sometimes with good results, but I’ve found that it’s best to make my own bars out of 5/16″ or 3/8″ round bar.
- Glue on studs are cool. I’ve had a lot of success with these studs, and learned a fair bit along the way. You can buy a pack of various sizes for about $20 online. You can make a simple slide hammer or buy one. You can also make or buy an adapter for the studs. It’s important to wash & dewax the tank so the glue sticks well. There’s only a minor risk of damaging paint – only when the finish is in poor shape. I found it helps to warm the stud location with a heat gun on low, just to ensure good adhesion. Apply glue to the warmed spot and press the stud base into the glue without delay. I have found that using the higher strength yellow glue sticks helps too. This process works best, as you might expect, when dents are not deep with creased edges. Still you can do “ok” if you work methodically from the edges, not the middle of the dent. However, you will probably have problems with badly creased areas.
- Inflatable bladders may sometimes be helpful. You can make them from a section of a motorcycle tube. There’s lots of videos about this process online. I’ve found that this routine is VERY hard to follow on a motorcycle tank. You have stuff the bladder into the tank with an inflator hose, then inflate and gently hammer around the edges of the dent to try and force the dent’s edges to flatten out. Of course, nothing is free and detailed work such as this takes time and experience.
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