thoughts on dent removal?

[JayDee24ca]

Marty, that's the same as the bridge type "Ding King" I referred to earlier. It can do a pretty decent job if it is done right. The glue sticks shown in your picture are different and look like regular glue sticks, not HD, but may be ok. One thing is quite important in using this tool, and that is to ensure that you have completely cleaned any grime or wax from the surface to be pulled, and also from the surface of the puller pad. You want the glue to stick without pulling away for the longest time possible.

 

[gggGary]

The glue won't pull a nice neat circle of paint off the tank? Just wondering.

 

[jetmechmarty]

The glue won't pull a nice neat circle of paint off the tank? Just wondering.

In my case, I don't care if it does. But, yes, that's good info to have.

 

[willis]

On the factory painted tank I used it on it did not remove any paint. On the shitty paint job that was already flaking off in some spots, yes it did. But this was an already shitty rattle can paint job that doesn't even look like it had primer or sealer under the paint either.

+1 on making sure the surfaces are really clean. It can be a real bitch getting the glue off the puller attachment. And it will take quite a few attempts getting the feel for it.

 

[JayDee24ca]

I've never had paint peel on any of the machines I used this on. But I suppose if you have bad paint it might.

 

[DogBunny]

I made a quick inquiry, and it looks like paying someone else will be too costly. I looked at Ebay for PDR tools. The listings all have pics like the one above, but when you read the description, you are only getting a fraction of the tools shown. So, next, I went to AliExpress, which is where I took the above pic from:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...earchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_
200 bucks, and you get every tool imaginable, including everything that everyone has mentioned so far. $200 is probably close to what it would cost to pay someone else to PDR my tank. I am tempted to pull the trigger on this. You only live once, right? All I probably need is a little encouragement...

 

[JayDee24ca]

'Course, there's always a tank full of propane and a match, right?

 

[Mailman]

View attachment 185997
I made a quick inquiry, and it looks like paying someone else will be too costly. I looked at Ebay for PDR tools. The listings all have pics like the one above, but when you read the description, you are only getting a fraction of the tools shown. So, next, I went to AliExpress, which is where I took the above pic from:
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/100...earchweb0_0,searchweb201602_,searchweb201603_
200 bucks, and you get every tool imaginable, including everything that everyone has mentioned so far. $200 is probably close to what it would cost to pay someone else to PDR my tank. I am tempted to pull the trigger on this. You only live once, right? All I probably need is a little encouragement...

Boy that’s a lot of tools for the money. You could probably even find some how to videos online somewhere. Another important part of the process , that I’ve noticed in all the videos, is a secure way to mount the tank, so you can apply a lot of pressure for popping those dents.
You get that kit and you can show us how well it works!

 

[gggGary]

All I probably need is a little encouragement...

Go! Go! Go!


If it's any consolation, me is tempted also.....

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

My XS1B tank had a really bad/deep crease on the left side. (Imagine striking the tank, hard, with a double-bit axe)

I took a long piece of 1/2 or 5/8 steel bar, bent it into a form that would enter the fill opening, and ground a foot on the end to match the crease. Kinda like this:

Then, instead of leveraging the tool against the fill opening, I clamped it into my large bench vise. I could then slide the tank over the rod, bear-hug the tank, and apply pressure to the tank, watching how the tool's foot pressed the dent outward. Sorta like the video in jetmechmarty's post #12, but backwards.

I had more leverage, control, force, and a better feel.
For some of the stubborn bends, I tapped (with a plastic-tipped hammer) on the surrounding convex surfaces of the bend while simultaneously pressing the concave dent down against the tool's foot.

Does that make any sense at all...?

 

[Jan_P]

I tried a little a few years ago . But could not do it with glue .. Avoiding damaging paint
But if the paint is gone
I read that tin bars int T shapes or so or spot welding something against the tank --- and then using a slide hammer pulling the dent out.
i think some put in a Pop rivet and pull via that .And after wards weld the hole

Some cut a hole on the underside to reach in through and patch the cutout afterwards with a piece of sheet metal and tin.

Sometimes the dent can be reached via the filling hole and a steel bar .. I bought a tire iron but I could not reach in well enough it was to far back
Also saw some arrangement with some bars like a small anvil going in through the filling hole and a laser pointer pointing at the anvil
So that when the anvil is in you know where it is via the laser pointer . And then pushing hard getting it out.

A problem is that it never gets so even that it don't need filler .. And in my case then I might as well use filler directly.
And then the repaint cost a fortune and will be difficult to get right and Good .

 

[rsor]

This attempt was a failure.

 

[rsor]

This worked better.

 

[rsor]

a few leaks to solder up.

 

[rsor]

Turned out fine.

 

[gggGary]

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/nails-make-great-dent-pullers.803006/

 

[DogBunny]

Saw that on fleabay, what this morning?
We're going to have to rename you rocketbunny!
Was thinking about exactly the same thing, how to lessen the dent without losing the cool patina paint.
There is a supposed to be a paintless dent removal wizard out in Sillyfornia that has done wonders with fuel tanks. But prolly not in your or my budget.
I've actually thought of several possible new technologies to do this. So far they remain pipe dreams.
I've got a small collection of tanks needing similar love.

The tank arrived today... with 1/4" of stale gas in the bottom. Not the first time. Note to the world: after you dump the old gas, poke some rags in the tank to get the rest of the gas out before you ship it.
The patina is super nice. Seems to have zero rust inside, just a really lot of fuel varnish all over, and like 1/4" of it at the bottom. Easy to clean with acetone. With lock and cap, this was a good buy.
I'm balking on buying the big 100 piece PDR kit, mainly because I don't thing the rods will be very useful. I think 2M had the right idea in post #30: get a really stout rod, and bend it to fit. Gonna try that, and if not liking it, will move on to the glue-on puller kits.

 

[jetmechmarty]

I bought a glue on puller yesterday at Harbor Freight. I’ll try it before too long. YouTube indicates maybe a 50% success rate.

 

[DogBunny]

XS2 tank. Hard to tell from this pic, but the filler neck is very noticeably caved in. (Note the welded seam lines indicated by the blue arrows -- more on that in a bit.)
The next three pics are ganged up for comparison, showing before, during, and after my dent repair.

The repair began with this piece of scrap metal I found in my Big Box O' Bits and Pieces which is perfectly sized for inserting into the neck opening. All I had to do is drill a hole in the middle.

The hole was drilled and then angled so that I could put it on my slide hammer and then get it into the tank. Just a few whacks got me to the middle pic in the comparison sequence above. (The slide hammer hook tool on the left was used for a little fine-tuning later on.)
The problem at this point was that the welded seam area did not want to pop up.

So, I did some spot-prying and spot-squeezing along the seam with channel locks.

The channel locks had a nut taped to the end of the inside jaw to get past the extended inside lip of the neck. And the piece of scrap metal had a bit of inner-tube taped to it to protect the top of the neck.
Didn't take long at all, and the final result just needs a little light glaze coat of filler to be perfect. Very satisfying for a first attempt at dent repair by an amateur. The metal was surprising easy to move. Gives me a lot of confidence that the various glue pullers, pry bars, etc., can actually work.

 

[Jim]

Nice job!!