looking to buy basket case-how bad a thing is a dented tank?

[brian weir]

Hello all,



I'm going on sunday to look at a basket 81 cbx. It has two tanks but I am told that they are both dented. How big a deal is it to fix this? Supposedly this was caused by the handlebars.

The engine is out, with the head off and camshafts out. 30,000km ago the owner died after taking it apart, then it was bought by a Honda collector who didn't get to it.

Any suggestions on what to check for on the engine would be welcome- Also if anyone sees this that previously wrote me could you please send again as my email was trashed.

thank you

Brian

[andy]

I have a real nice 81 tank up on ebay if you are interested



http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... :B:LC:MT:1

[EMS]

It depends, really, how bad the dents are. There is a new dent removal system out, which originally came from Europe. It uses a heat activated glue with which you stick an adaptor into the dent and then pull it out with a slidehammer or a puller bracket provided. The adaptor will be taken off with a hair dryer and residue is cleaned with a glass cleaner. I got myself a set like it and saved several tanks with dents. Dents should not have sharp greases and paint should not be damaged.

[Ringnalda]

Just to follow up on this note, do not put compressed air into a gas tank unless you really want to watch the gas tank do 'butterfly' impressions. You really need to know what you are doing, if not a gas tank will become useless by spreading it's wings before you can say "Oh sh!t"

[Guest]

Another old wife's tale, that pops up ever so often, is putting water in the tank and freeze it. Consider that the expanding ice will not know the difference between designed shapes and accidental dents and you'll have an idea what your tank will end up looking like, after you're done with it.