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I hope this is the appropriate forum...

What do you guys suggest for repairing dents on gas tanks on older bikes?

I have a larger dent on my tank and would love to repair it without messing with its structural integrity and without spending hundreds of dollars. This is why I am hesitant to drill holes and bang out the dent:

http://tinyurl.com/e4qnb

May I use Bondo to simply fill in the dent? Then I could sand down the gas tank myself and take it to a pro to have it nicely repainted to a color close to my bike’s original color?

I've got the same problem on my tank. I think I'll just take mine to a pro and get it repaired. If it will be too expensive, I'll just buy a new tank or try and do it myself. If you get an appraisal on getting your fixed anytime soon, or do it yourself, make sure to post what you did with some pictures so I can have an idea of how to go about getting mine fixed.

no problem... ill post some pics if i decide to go bondo.

http://www.gadgetjq.com/dentremoval.htm

Gadget wrote:This works on fuel tank and other dents that don't involve a "crease" in the metal. Purchase a piece of dry ice (frozen c02) at your local liquor store. It should be larger than your dent. Using thick gloves or a towel to hold the ice, apply it to the dented area. Hold the ice in place until frost forms at least an inch beyond the dent all the way around. Remove the ice and place the tank or metal part in the Sun if possible. If the trick works you'll be able to watch the dent vanish before your eyes. This also works to remove many parking lot dents in car doors.

Unfortunately my dent is far to big and has several creases. So that won't work, but sounds good for any other dents I come accross.

Take it to a body shop and have them "pull" it. They should have a spot welding device that weld studs on wherever they need to pull (I think it's called a stud welder?). You need studs all along the crease to pull it. After that they simply grind the stud off Voila ... No holes.

The other thing would be to find a used tank (if possible) Ebay or some place like that.

If you decide to just fill it. Don't use bondo, use fiberglass filler (much better) Up here it is green and uses a hardener just like bondo but gives a much better grip and not so prone to cracking. It would probably work okay for a number of years. Fill the basic hole with the f/glass filler then finish with a thin coat of bondo for easier working

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

Yup fibreglass filler is definitely better. I used that to fill up a dent in my fuel tank and it works pretty well.

Use a layer of bondo or the slightly more expensive (but better finish IMHO) POR-15 glazing putty. I actually had some sitting around from work done on my car.

ZooTech wrote:http://www.gadgetjq.com/dentremoval.htm

has anyone here done this? And if sun isn't available would placing it in front of a heater or hairdryer work?

Hmm interesting I wonder why it would work, if at all. But sure, the sun's role here is heat source... so Im guessing that a heater would work. Though try it with a radiant heater rather than a blow dryer.