[uhohferris]

YO! it's been a while since i've visited but it's only because i have been out cruising around. my bike is running like a champ thanks in part to this forum! because of that, i'm starting to think that maybe it's time i seriously address my tank dents and a new paint job. they came with the bike. i'm tempted to try myself but for this, i'll leave it to the pros. so... 1. does anybody know a connection in the in the central new jersey coast area? maybe have some experience dealing with them? 2. any ball park numbers of what i might expect to pay. i've got a baseball sized dent just under the right side emblem and another dime size by where the tank meets the seat. i'd imagine the tank needs to be media blasted, dents pulled-pushed and/or bondo-ed, primed, repainted–1971 cb450 green all with a new gold stripe graphic. the insides have been Kreemed. 3. Maaco? Hi-end custom paint shop? Average joe schmoe auto body joint or someplace specific to tanks? I'm all ears, thanks...

-seth

 

[tbpmusic]

Lots of people could do it - they're all gonna charge you an arm and a leg.
Probably a couple hundred bucks, unless you know them or something.......

 

[uhohferris]

bill,
do you for see any problems i'd have with just doing a close to professional bondo job on the tank? i have a buddy thats pretty crafty and meticulous, AND he's got access to a spray gun and booth. is there some cardinal rule about not putting that crap on your tank?
-seth

 

[tbpmusic]

bill,
do you for see any problems i'd have with just doing a close to professional bondo job on the tank? i have a buddy thats pretty crafty and meticulous, AND he's got access to a spray gun and booth. is there some cardinal rule about not putting that crap on your tank?
-seth

I don't pay much attention to rules, especially cardinal ones.
I say, why not have your buddy do it??
If it doesn't turn out, do something else.
I do all my own painting, and usually tanks do get some bondo.

 

[Badbiscuit]

I attended the Street rod program at Wyotech, and the owner of Chislom customs once told me that if a car or bike had been re done ever that it got bondo, or filler. Said it didn't matter if you sanded 99 percent of it off. But that other 1 percent will look that much better.

 

[Bird76Mojo]

A skim coat of Bondo is necessary almost always.. Even without dents..

GB :mrgreen:

 

[uhohferris]

nice! it's just that this dent is about a 1/2 inch deep and the bondo could really add up! f-it, that's my plan if it doesn't work out i'll try something else.

 

[Badbiscuit]

you can get a dent close with a modified steel rod, like those used on the paintless dent repair that you watch on youtube. But if you taking it down for paint, you can smak the tank from the inside out with it, and use a dolly on the outside, or you can use the rod as a dolly and tap over it to get the hammer and dolly effect. Either or get it close before you bondo it. I have worked on tanks with 1/2" to 3/4" of bondo on them and you never look at the guy that did it the same afterward.

 

[MNellis]

Everything gets filler, there is almost no way around it. Even in the real old days, before Bondo, they had to use something. Back then they used lead in most cases.

The problem with plastic fillers like Bondo is that they have a tendency to shrink. The more you use in one area the more shrinkage you'll have over time and that's what induces the cracking.

I recall your tank when you first got the bike and I remember a good sized dent in the right side but I don't know how deep it was. If it's to deep you might want to have a bodyshop pop it out with a puller so the amount of filler you'll need in a given area can be kept to a minimum.

Here is a picture of my tank as I was prepping it for paint.

Notice in the next picture the blue ring around some of the filler spots. That means that the filler is too high and needs more block sanding. Anyway, you get the idea.

Also, you don't need to blast the tank. Just get some aircraft stripper at your local auto parts store and it will remove the old paint very easily if that what you want to do. I didn't do that with the 450 tank (I did on my 350 tank though). If I was to do it again I'd strip the 450 tank.

 

[uhohferris]

thanks mike. maybe i've seen the after pictures somewhere, but i'd love to see that 450 tank bondo results. again great response from all of you. i was def curious about the blasting. the hi-test stripper you speak of will bring in down pretty close to bare metal? and do you think it's ok to bang out the one dent from the inside of a Kreemed tank? will that stuff chip off easily? i like the idea of a metal rod and hammer banging away, slowly decreasing the size of the dent before a bondo app.

 

[Bird76Mojo]

Aircraft stripper will remove all traces of paint and even soften body filler to the point that you can scrape it off a layer at a time.

GB :mrgreen:

 

[MNellis]

Aircraft stripper will remove all traces of paint and even soften body filler to the point that you can scrape it off a layer at a time.

GB :mrgreen:

That is correct. My post assumed the original, with the dents, did not have any body filler in it.

I had a trashed CB450 plastic headlight shell that I used aircraft stripper on. I won't be doing that again. It tore it up so bad that it took several hours to sand it all out.

 

[66Sprint]

JMHO, but if the tank was rusty (or leaked) enough to need "kreamed" you may be better off getting a better tank on ebay...... I personally don't like "Kreem" (just MY OPINION), and I would remove it and re-clean/re-seal the tank......Puncturing or cracking the "Kreem" layer during dent repairs will almost guarantee the coating will chip and fail....

 

[borzwazie]

Aircraft stripper works good. I have found that paint stripper sold for deck paint also works very well, and is much cheaper.

Here's some examples of what you can do with bondo and filler primer (filler primer fills in little voids and bubbles, and helps smooth bondo edges):

here's a "before" pic, note the tank badge mounts:

here's an "after bondo and filler primer" pic. I also filled in other small dents and dings. This tank has been wetsanded and is waiting for a low-humidity day to finish-coat.

Here's the tail section, which I made by riveting the cut-off section of a leaky tank to the stock seatpan. no welding, and no join line!

Seat and fender done, waiting on the tank. Note that I just used Rustoleum spray paint, wetsanded between coats, and clearcoated with Duplicolor wheel and rim clearcoat, which resists gasoline pretty nicely:

What it originally looked like (but clearcoat lets the steel flash rust pretty quickly, oh well):

You can get really good results from spraypaint if you're careful. Always give the paint ample time to dry (read the can!). Always handle the parts with nitrile gloves on, don't give the part a reason to fisheye. I personally don't use tack cloths because no matter how lightly I use them I end up with fisheyes. Wash parts in hot water and soap in between coats. Wet-sand between coats with 1000 grit sandpaper or higher - this part will take a long time. Don't spray in high-humidity.