Hand hammered knee indents on a stock CB450 tank

N

Nario

Active Member
My awesome knee indents :)



And these are the "high-tech" tools I used to created the indents:





Let me show you another tool I came up with:



I am sure you guys ( and girls) are familiar with PDR or just dent repair in general. While I was researching how to fix a dent on my gas tank I learned that those Dent repair tools go for $1000 and up, here is one for instance. But for $12.99 i found this thing called " hole key" at Lowes. I am not sure but I think a hole key is used to open electrical or phone wire hole in the ground. Anyways with a lttle cutting, bending and grinding, I ended up with my own dent repair tool.

And here is the original gas tank with the dent:

 
Hahahaha! The end result speaks for itself, but those tools........ I've seen chimps with better technology! :D

I've said it before but those knee dents turned out great!
 
Big R said:
Hahahaha! The end result speaks for itself, but those tools........ I've seen chimps with better technology! :D

I've said it before but those knee dents turned out great!
Click to expand...

Somewhere there is a Snap-On dealer spinning in his grave like a top!
Just goes to show ya that that if you're resourceful, nothing can hold ya back...
Nice job!!
 
GodJockey said:
Is that a log wrapped in leather?! haha
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yeah its a piece of pine tree limb that I cut in my back yard and then I rounded one end and wrapped it with leather. The other smaller one is another stick of wood also with a rounded end which is wrapped in leather. Leather helps prevent deep dings. The smaller one is for detailing :) I honestly tried 2 different kinds of hammers with rubber heads and plastic heads of different diameters but soon gave up on them as they did not give me enough control.
 
Hoosier Daddy said:
Somewhere there is a Snap-On dealer spinning in his grave like a top!
Just goes to show ya that that if you're resourceful, nothing can hold ya back...
Nice job!!
Click to expand...

I have always though that cafe racers never had big money to spend on their bikes, but this is an advantage because it allows them and pushes them to be resourceful. This is why every cafe bike is unique and full of personality...... don't you think?
 
You're absolutely right Nario. And don't take it the wrong way, we are all a bunch of jokers! Where are you from, anyway?
 
Big R said:
You're absolutely right Nario. And don't take it the wrong way, we are all a bunch of jokers! Where are you from, anyway?
Click to expand...

I live in Mars Hill, North Carolina. 15 mins from Asheville.
 
Nario said:
.......honestly tried 2 different kinds of hammers with rubber heads and plastic heads of different diameters but soon gave up on them as they did not give me enough control.
Click to expand...

should end with....so I used a log.
 
Hahaha, that's awesome. I dig the resourcefulness.-I've done similar fixes.
 
Swagger said:
should end with....so I used a log.
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Haha yeah, thats what i was thinking, "I didnt have enough control, so i used a log".

Really awesome work though! Im gonna be doing the same thing with the same tank, unfortunately i have no logs handy. Hopefully mine turns out as nice as yours did.
 
Nario said:
I live in Mars Hill, North Carolina. 15 mins from Asheville.
Click to expand...

Tank looks great! (and I for one love your use of "cave man" tools)

Welcome to another NC DTT'er and CB450.

CC
 
I'm not much for adding knee dents (though that shouldn't dissuade anyone from doing it themselves) but I've wondered about filling the tank with sand...no gas cap....as a way to support the structure during teh pounding. Instinctively this sounds like a good thing to me but I'm only marginally acceptable working tins.
 
Swagger said:
I'm not much for adding knee dents (though that shouldn't dissuade anyone from doing it themselves) but I've wondered about filling the tank with sand...no gas cap....as a way to support the structure during teh pounding. Instinctively this sounds like a good thing to me but I'm only marginally acceptable working tins.
Click to expand...

I think youd have a really hard time getting all the sand out of the tank... Maybe drop a thick plastic bag inside with the top poking out and then fill that with sand instead.

I was just going to get some old bedsheets and stuff those in the tank nice and tight though, in part because i think the resistance would be useful, but moreso because im going to be bashing the tank in my apartment, and i didnt want any noise complaints ;D
 
Thank you all for the complements on my bike. Next will be the construction of the seat and I am sure I will have to use some cave man tools for this one too.
 
Swagger said:
I'm not much for adding knee dents (though that shouldn't dissuade anyone from doing it themselves) but I've wondered about filling the tank with sand...no gas cap....as a way to support the structure during teh pounding. Instinctively this sounds like a good thing to me but I'm only marginally acceptable working tins.
Click to expand...

That does sound like it would work. Same theory as a leather pouch filled with sand which they use to pound metal, this provides support and also enough flexibility. But I found out that the structure of the tank provides enough support for the pounding. lots of small and controlled dents work better than big hard hits.
 
I have been thinking about a seat. Frankly, I know what I am supposed to do here which is make a good looking cafe racer style seat. But I want to experiment a little.

Someone placed this sportster seat on my bike just to see what it looks like. The initial reaction was NO! but then it kinda grew on me and now I can say I like it! I think the seat and tank combination resemble a wasp in my opinion. And the curves of the tank and the seat sort of match where they meet which creates symmetry in the overall look.

But I am most interested in what you think about using this seat.
Do you think this is a disgrace to the Rockers?
Should I be banned from this forum for even suggesting an idea like this?
Or is this absolutely brilliant and consistent with the cheap and shameless philosophy .

 
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