Spring Valley, San Diego - Removing dents on a motorcycle gas tank is like Forest Gump says, "It's like a box of chocolates and you never know what your gunna get." In my own terms, how it's going to turn out. Usually in the first five minutes I can get a read about a few things. #1 I will have a nice repair and it will come out smoothly. #2 It will come out but not without a fight. Or #3 It won't come out at all.
Gas tanks can be one of the most challenging dent repairs to perform. Obviously there are factors before you even begin.
#1 How deep is the dent? Depth and sharpness play a roll on any type of dent removal and this sure was no exception.
#2 Getting to the dent. Access is definitely the challenge because there could be a baffle blocking access or the neck around the collar is too long that doesn't allow leverage.
#3 How thick the tank really is. This particular gas tank was real thick and I almost gave up. Access was not a problem just pushing on it was. Thick gas tanks get you to doubt where your tool tip really is and almost show not flex in the metal when applying pressure. This was the most difficult of the repair process.
But I have to admit this repair did not come out perfect. The metallic in the paint clouded out as I pushed. This is caused because the metallic simply was stretched in and when stretched back out, it turns a cloudy looking effect. Color sanding helps reduce this somewhat and in some cases removes it all the way. But don't count on it all the time. Heat does seem to help though in some cases.
No comments:
Post a Comment