dented gas tank

I have a 1983 ZX750A1 that I picked up cheap many years ago. I 'm going to restore it! There is a dent on the top right front of the gas tank approx.6" x 4". Does any one have any ideas of how to remove it?

woodman20
1983 ZX750
1981 Harley FXEF Fatbob

Is it creased? A pic would help greatly.

Good topic, cuz my friends gas tank on his 79 1000 he just bought has that size dent from the previous owner punching the top part of it. The dent is just under the gas cap hole and it is dented in about a inch or maybe lil less. Am curious how to fix it, we was thinking on a drill hole and a dent puller?

if its not creased try a suction cup style puller
get them wet and they stick pretty good

Would a toilet plunger work?:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

kzmarvo wrote:

Would a toilet plunger work?:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

ive seen people pull dents on newer cars with a plunger as longer as they arent creased.:S

woodman20 wrote:

I have a 1983 ZX750A1 that I picked up cheap many years ago. I 'm going to restore it! There is a dent on the top right front of the gas tank approx.6" x 4". Does any one have any ideas of how to remove it?

As previously posited, photos would help.

Gas tank dents can be a plain-jane pain in the neck because of the complex curves involved. Not so much because of the aestetic aspects, but because the curves in the metal make it significantly stronger than a likewise thickness of flat metal.

Depending on the depth and location of the dent, you might be just as well off to fill the dent with Dura Glass and be done with it. Bondo isn't a real option here because it's neither gas or water proof.

I'd hesitiate to drill holes in a tank if the capacity isn't seriously diminished. And any holes drilled *must* be brazed shut after the pulling is done, for gas will literally eat any filler material you use over the area.

If you *really* know your way around a torch, it's possible to pop a dent by alternatively heating and cooling various areas of the metal, but the fine points of doing that are a process that'd be difficult to fully explain here, and problematic without good shots of the dent.

Post some shots, and we'll get an idea of what'll work best...

I've often wondered about using one of those paintless dent removal guys on a tank dent. A guy did a kick a** job of taking $1300(according to the Ford dealer) worth of hail dents out of my six month old truck for $900 AND got it back to me in 2 days. Made money! But that wasn't a tank.

pumps wrote:

I've often wondered about using one of those paintless dent removal guys on a tank dent....

Hey, anything's worth a try.

Those suction cup/bar pullers are nothing new, they've been hanging on the walls of body shops for nigh-on 30 years I'm aware of, and probably a good bit longer.

As you percieved, it's all a matter of depth and location, location, location - not necessarily the *size* of the dent.

You can have a dent 2 feet wide in a door panel, and it'll pop like magic....

You can have a 2 inch dent in the curved corner of a gas tank, and at the end of the day you'll wind up with the cups on your ears pulling the dents out of your head from trying to figure out why you can't get such a silly little depression to pop.:whistle:

If you are gone repaint the tank,some body shops use a dent puller but first they use a special tool that welds short pieces of wires, like 2" nails in the center of the dent or around and then you use a regular pull hammer, after you are done just grindem off.

thats a unispot stud gun they work great but you can still pull holes in the tank

Some jackass told my friend to spray starting fluid in it at hit it with a lighter and it would pop out? true?