How can i remove dents froman aluminium fuel tank.

[GMC]

Bog is the easy fix, comes down to what you want and what dollars you can justify.
The sharp edge dents do come out, it's just time = dollars







Bloody tank makes me look fat, no really it's the tank

[GMC]

Murals are an optional extra
Bloody polished tanks are hard to photograph







A keen eye may be able to see where I cut the tanks open...

[Nathan S]

+1 for GMC's comments.

I had a YZ125C tank that was pretty rough. I learned the hard way about them spreading under pressure and then learned the hard way about the pressure collapsing the frame tunnel...

Eventually, I had a piece of 4x2" timber wrapped in rags in the tunnel, and held the lower seam in the big vice. Then I cranked the pressure up...
In hindsight, if it had let go at 100psi, it probably would have killed me, but it didn't, so that ended well.
What did happen was that the bigger, shallower dents were made smaller, and the smaller, sharper dents completely ignored me.

So then I bogged it.

[Paulos]

Bogged and painted tank. Needs a repaint now as modern riding pants plus knee braces have made a mess of it, but i don't have to worry about dropping it and stuffing hundreds of $ of repair work

[Mick D]

i dented my bsa alloy tank with a perfect edge off my garage wall, my mate is a panel beater with soft spot for vmx. After huge amounts of free beer,  he agreed to fix it. after huge amount of time and effort it was fixed. he told me that if it was a paying job it would have cost $1000
first point, NO EASY FIX
second point, NO EASY FIX

 


Ok Ok, back to business, hang on

Ok Ok, I have a some Alloy tanks with lots of bog in them that I want gone(the bog, I want the bog gone, not the tanks ).
Has anyone ever found a painless way of removing the bog without removing or damaging any more of the alloyminium?

[Mick D]

Bogged and painted tank. Needs a repaint now as modern riding pants plus knee braces have made a mess of it, but i don't have to worry about dropping it and stuffing hundreds of $ of repair work

Geez, that turned out allright good on ya!

[Mick D]

I have a some Alloy tanks with lots of bog in them that I want gone(the bog, I want the bog gone, not the tanks ).
Has anyone ever found a painless way of removing the bog without removing or damaging any more of the alloyminium?

Surely some one knows a quick easy way of dissolving or removing bog from an alloy tank without doing anymore damage to the skin?

[David Lahey]

Have just read the label on my Septone paint stripper (that softens bog). It says it is made from dichloromethane, phenol and ammonia. No wonder it makes your eyes water
When I was a kid I used methylene chloride to do the same thing
edit no 2
I just read the warning section on the label and on there it says it contains methylene chloride

[Mick D]

Have just read the label on my Septone paint stripper (that softens bog). It says it is made from dichloromethane, phenol and ammonia. No wonder it makes your eyes water
When I was a kid I used methylene chloride to do the same thing

 

 Thanks mate, I appreciate it. It prompts the obvious now, there is a really good auto paint shop here, I will go and see if they sell it, thanks.
This is the tank as purchased

[David Lahey]

I think I bought the paint stripper from Super Cheap or Autobarn

[Mick D]

I think I bought the paint stripper from Super Cheap or Autobarn

Yeap, thanks David I will take the phone with me because I have already forgotten the name of it
I should be able to sharpen up an old plastic tooth brush to then dig it out without gouging the Aluminium.
Then finish with a soda blast I imagine, cheers.

[Momus]

Careful work with a bench grinder mounted wire wheel will quickly remove bog- at least to the point where the stripper can easily take off the last traces.

[GMC]

I just use mechanical means to remove the bog, quick and simple.
Wire brush on angle grinder to remove bulk then wire brush on drill or die grinder which will be a bit more gentle when getting closer to the alloy.
Then scotchbrite wheel on bench grinder to finish off and also remove paint if it's not too thick
Use a mask to avoid breathing the dust though


Scotchbrite wheel did most of the work to remove clear coat & stickers on on this job.
Scotchbrite wheels can be a bit expensive though and sharp edges will chew them up quickly

[Mick D]

Thanks Momus and Geoff. I appreciate your efforts.
Cheers

[Tomas]

Any one have ever used hot air gun/propane torch to strip paint? Painters do that often as far as i know. Heat will not hurt aluminium or steel.