Hammer time! (tank knee dents)

djelliott

djelliott

Real bikes are built in garages.
So, thanks to this forum and the brave members that have beat their own knee dents in, I was inspired to set out and possibly ruin what was to start a not so bad CL350 fuel tank. After a bit of scotch to calm the nerves I set out with my dead blow hammer and rubber mallet to do some banging. I am very happy with the results. All it needs is a bit of bondo to smooth it out and we're all good. Let me know what you think.


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VonYinzer said:
Looks good man. I like the larger dents. You lost some fuel there, but its all good!
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Just a little. They really look pronounced, which I like, but I bet I didn't loose much more the half a litter or so. Thanks for the feedback. Going to clean and Bondo tonight. I'll post the results in a few days.
 
That came out really nice. the right side is a bit more indented on the edges it seems, but i'm sure you'll get it rigth withthe bondo. Either that or get the left side closer to what the right side looks like towards the front and bottom. the right side on top does not look as indented as the left side, could be the photos though. But then again, who's gonna look at both sides at the same time.
 
xulf13 said:
That came out really nice. the right side is a bit more indented on the edges it seems, but i'm sure you'll get it rigth withthe bondo. Either that or get the left side closer to what the right side looks like towards the front and bottom. the right side on top does not look as indented as the left side, could be the photos though. But then again, who's gonna look at both sides at the same time.
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Thanks for the input. Yeah it does look a bit skewed from the lighting. Still it was a tad off. I evened it out a bit yesterday before slathering it with Bondo©. We'll see how the sanding turns out.
 
Its probably too late now but I used a contour gauge like this

http://cgi.ebay.com/HEMPE-2754-6-Ruled-Contour-Duplication-Gauge_W0QQitemZ170427521668QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item27ae459a84

to get the two sides even and very similar. It will also help a lot in the body filler stages to make sure both sides are very similar. It looks nice though. I know I felt the same way before I did it to my tank, but once you start you realize how easy it is.
 
looks great man! I was thinkin about doin the same thing...first i was thinkin of choppin the sides out and welding them on the opposite sides...but maybe hammering is the way to go! we're u using a rounded mallet or flat?
 
looks great. I just got done stripping my tank and sanding it today. figured i would come in and check out what people were doing for knee dents. I might chicken out and not do any dents at all. i will be watching this thread to see how it turns out. good luck.
 
wesley1521 said:
looks great. I just got done stripping my tank and sanding it today. figured i would come in and check out what people were doing for knee dents. I might chicken out and not do any dents at all. i will be watching this thread to see how it turns out. good luck.
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Thanks for checking it out. Here's an updated photo after Bondo. It's hard to tell from the crappy iPhone pic but it came out pretty good. I am putting tank pads in the dents too, so I think this should be fine. I officially hate Bondo almost as much as mudding and taping. Also, check out my bitching new Roc City Intercepter Seat!


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looks great. i have the week off to work on this bike and im still questioning the whole tank dents. been all over this site watching videos and reading people's input but i guess i will just have to decide when i walk out to the shop.

nice job with everything. ill keep watching this thread to see how the tank and seat match up.
 
ok i just did it. used the same hammer as sully did in his video and im pumped about the new look. one question for you though...what did you do with the petcock? where i dented in my tank i will not be able to put the petcock back in straight. do i cut tube a little or bend it? kinda have no idea what do with that
 
wesley1521 said:
ok i just did it. used the same hammer as sully did in his video and im pumped about the new look. one question for you though...what did you do with the petcock? where i dented in my tank i will not be able to put the petcock back in straight. do i cut tube a little or bend it? kinda have no idea what do with that
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I lucked out and stopped right before I went to far for the petcock. You could always remove the tube from the petcock. The only thing is you won't have a reserve anymore so you'll have to keep an eye on your fuel level.
 
wesley1521 said:
ok i just did it. used the same hammer as sully did in his video and im pumped about the new look. one question for you though...what did you do with the petcock? where i dented in my tank i will not be able to put the petcock back in straight. do i cut tube a little or bend it? kinda have no idea what do with that
Click to expand...

Yea, I think if your careful you could heat up the tube with a propane torch, put it in a vise and put a slight bend to it. You might wanna try filling the tube with sand first and closing the ends to prevent it from blocking of and kinking up. But that might not be necessary cause you probably only need a slight bend right?
 
I dont want to steal the thread but thank you for the replies about the petcock. On all of my 2 stroke dirt bikes i never did have a reserve so maybe just removing the tube would be ok. but i will try to heat the tube up and give it a slight bend....if it breaks or kinks....then i guess i will just have to watch my fuel level to never run out of gas.
 
Here's the tank with a ton of coats of bare metal primer and high heat flat black. I used the high heat paint because it's gas and oil resistant plus I've been having a lot of luck laying it down nice and smooth. Sorry it's a bit grainy. I moved it inside to dry and the light wasn't so good.
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