CrAzYoRaNgE M/C
Cruiser
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 215
Likes: 0
From: Las Vegas
Tank is roughly 2 gal. I used a piece of metal that has some holes already in it. I bought from lowes/home depot. To me it resembles stop sign or street sign posts it's just not cubed its a flat piece of steel. Anyways I cut, rounded and drilled the holes a little bigger and mounted it on the lower shock mount and spray painted it black. These are the best I could get.
Thanks dude that helps. Well looks like I'm gonna stick with my original tank plan. Rene is super swamped and can't take on any additional projects right now and if I'm gonna do it I want him to do it so gonna be pullin my tank soon to get started with the orig plan. who knows...maybe down the line i can revisit the tank thing. i still have a good little tank to work with so i'm gonna run with it. btw, what do you guys suggest to use for tank dings? i have a couple, one of which is fairly significant. i need to pull the tank, strip it and try to accomplish as much of the body work myself before taking it for paint. thanks.
Last edited by bmxatv; Jan 29, 2013 at 07:07 AM.
Road Master
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,166
Likes: 7
From: NY
That ought to get Street's attention...
any science to it? i've never used it before. obvouisly need to strip my tank first then apply the bondo and sand it out nice and smooth. anything other than that to get it ready for paint or is it that easy?
Road Captain
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 591
Likes: 3
From: Alberta, CANADA
If that doesn't fill your dents, you need them pulled out.
If you search on youtube "How to Body Filler or Bondo" there's a lot of good videos...
In simple terms, clean the area, sand to bare metal to about 1" around the dent, mix the filler, apply, let it dry, sand to smooth finish. You'll also need different grit sandpapers to bring it down. Then primer and paint.
Road Master
Joined: Jul 2011
Posts: 1,166
Likes: 7
From: NY
I'm guessing the dents aren't that big or deep, so just take your time with the "mud" and keep it as smooth as possible when you do each coat. Mixing and applying is key. Getting just the right amount of hardener for the amount of mud you need isn't easy if you don't do it all the time. I went through about half a can before I got the right proportions, which was fine because I only needed a small amount anyway. Test a few small batches before you put any on your tank. Mix it and see how long it takes to harden and how hard it ends up being. If you get it right it should set up in just a few minutes and become very hard. Too much hardener and it'll turn to rock in 60 seconds. Too little hardener and it'll never get hard enough to sand. Once you get the mixture right, apply it as thin as you can get away with and let it dry completely before you sand it. If you need to do another coat, follow the same procedure, going as lightly as you can to just fill in the low spots.
Like I said, I ain't no expert by any stretch, but for a small job it really is that easy.
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Joe Kucinski
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 2,790
Likes: 7
From: Texas
Ergo has some good points.
1. Do not go to bare metal unless necessary. The factory paint is a more stable base to work with than bare metal. Going down to bare metal may actually compromise the integrity down the road. Plus you will need many more primers and material. I wouldn't go to bare metal if I was you.
2. Don't ever call it bondo. Bondo is a brand. The correct term is body filler or a slang as ergo said commonly used in shops is "mud".
3. Don't be afraid to use more than the recommended 1/4" of filler. The tank is not a car door that will get slammed every day. It's more stable. I used a lot on my peanut and never had an issue. It looked like someone hit my tank with a baseball bat.
4. Sandpaper grits: Use 80 grit to sand the dings to bare metal. Yes, bare metal just on the dents. Apply filler. Sand filler 90 percent of the way with the 80 grit. Final sand the filler with 180 grit or 220 grit. Clean the area. Apply 3-5 coats of sand able primer. I'd do 5 because rattle can primer is thin. Let the primer dry. I'd wait a day if you can. Use 400-500 grit sanding the primer. I would sand the factory paint with the same grit.
5. Primering the entire tank is a waste and totally unnecessary.
1. Do not go to bare metal unless necessary. The factory paint is a more stable base to work with than bare metal. Going down to bare metal may actually compromise the integrity down the road. Plus you will need many more primers and material. I wouldn't go to bare metal if I was you.
2. Don't ever call it bondo. Bondo is a brand. The correct term is body filler or a slang as ergo said commonly used in shops is "mud".
3. Don't be afraid to use more than the recommended 1/4" of filler. The tank is not a car door that will get slammed every day. It's more stable. I used a lot on my peanut and never had an issue. It looked like someone hit my tank with a baseball bat.
4. Sandpaper grits: Use 80 grit to sand the dings to bare metal. Yes, bare metal just on the dents. Apply filler. Sand filler 90 percent of the way with the 80 grit. Final sand the filler with 180 grit or 220 grit. Clean the area. Apply 3-5 coats of sand able primer. I'd do 5 because rattle can primer is thin. Let the primer dry. I'd wait a day if you can. Use 400-500 grit sanding the primer. I would sand the factory paint with the same grit.
5. Primering the entire tank is a waste and totally unnecessary.
Wow thanks guys. A slew of info. SF original tank plan was to strip my current tank, paint it black and then pinstripe an old school flame job on it. Crazy orange proper. Lol. Only proem I have with this is it's friggen cold and painting in the cold is not good so I'd have to wait until it warms up to paint which I don't want to do, I want this thing to be done so I can ride when it gets warm. I might pull it, do the sanding and filler and then let a shop do the paint. We'll see. Thx again guys. Great info here on the filler and it doesn't sound too hard. Just need to fill like one small ping the size of an eraser so ill sand that spot down to bare and go from there leaving the rest of the tank paint intact.
Last edited by bmxatv; Jan 30, 2013 at 07:00 AM.