mid project on kz650

its a work in progres:blush:

can eneyone tell me what other tanks will fit this bike?

and yet a nother....

ewww. what the heck is that mess. I Hope you ground some roughness into the steel before you applied that.
If you are trying to fix dents you are heading in the wrong direction...heres what you need to do

1. wipe the hole tanks down with wax and grease remover. then remove the paint from an area about 10 times the size of the damaged area.

2. remove any rust that is visible, if there is lots of it, it would be wise to strip the whole tank to bare metal to be sure there is no rust under the paint.

3. using a 36 grit grinding disc rough the hell out of the area where bondo will be applied.

4. wipe area clean with a dry rag.

5. If the dent is not too deep mix up and apply some bondo to the affected area. If the dent is deep you should attempt to pop it out some and then apply a layer of fiberglass filled filler ( sometimes called gorilla hair, or kitty hair, or tiger hair)

6. using 36 grit and a block rough in the filler,

7. Apply another layer of bondo covering a larger area than the first.

8. sand this with 80 grit until satisfied

9. repeat 7&8 untill it feels good

10. apply a thin skin of bondo, only thick enough to fill the sanding scratches left by the 80. when this is dry sand it with 180.

11. depending on whether or not you stripped the tank make sure all scratches in the paint are feathered out, you feather out the area aroung the repair. depending on the thickness of the existing paint the feather edge should be at least 1 inch wide. scuff sand any shinny paint this is best done with a red scotchbrite pad.

12. if you stripped the tank just make sure that the bondo blends smoothly into the metal with NO hard lines anywhere

13. blow the tank clean and wipe down with wax and grease remover again.

14. now you can wither apply a two part epoxy primer or a acid etching primer, followed by a preferably two component urethane primer surfacer.

15. when it's dry, block sand the primer with 180 untill smooth

16. apply more primer surfacer and block sand untill satisfied.

17. apply one more coat of primer surfacer and wetsand with 400-600

18. paint it......

In most cases stripping the tank would be the best thing to do scince the paint is at least 20 yrs old, and who know what it is or whats under it. and you generally dont have to worry about ring around the repair syndrom if you do. Also do not try and power sand bondo it just dosn't work. the primers i mentioned are availible at and auto parts store. they could be replaeced with some what cheaper spray can stuff, but the results will not be nearly as good either..
have fun

AM1980 wrote:

can eneyone tell me what other tanks will fit this bike?

As far as I know, none are a direct fit.
Considering the extent of repairs needed on that tank, you may want to consider just buying a used one like this:

1979 KAWASAKI KZ650 KZ 650 gas tank & cap
It even looks like the same color, and no major dents!
It appears to have some rust inside, but that's easily remedied as long as it doesn't go all the way through.

hey dude that tank is a friggin mess. You should turn it into a planter. I have four tanks in my shop and a 79 sr 650. The kz 750 tank doesnt fit, the petcock is in the wrong spot and smacks right into the top of the carb. The two kz 650 tanks I have from mid 70s bikes seem to fit fine. The rubber mounts are exactly the same, and the little tit that sits in just before the seat is in the same place, the petcock are slightly different but still seem to work. Keep in mind I am no mechanic, but if you stick it on, and it fits, what else do you need to know. I can send you a picture of the 77 650 tank i have on my sr now. I didnt really like the sr tank so swapped it. I am leaving the paint and body work to someone who wont make the mess out of it that I would.

if youre anywhere near wichita i could fix that in a few hours

alice

I would make myself near for some free bodywork!!! I recall you sent some pics of your handy work and it looked good, I just keep piling on bondo until it looks like I have two tanks stacked on each other....

I worked in paint and body for almoust four years and never heard the proses explained so well, thanks and I know it looks ugly what you see is kitty hair on a probly two inch deep gash in the tank I could not pop it out because it's in the front of the tank and I realy dont have any tool to get to it:(

1979 KAWASAKI KZ650 KZ 650 gas tank & cap
currently the high bidder thanks! it looks prety good.

btchalice wrote:

if youre anywhere near wichita i could fix that in a few hours

Gillette wy. I think it's like a 16hr drive form you... I think its like a 16hr drive from everything:S sorry off subject:whistle: