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Has anyone tried this method to fill minor dents?
If it worked, it might make the corners of my Lightwin tank
a little more pleasing.
Prepare to be boarded!
I have some experience repairing aluminum
square tanks and have used the aluminum
brazing rod on a few occasions. How much it
shows depends on how the light hits it.
My limited experience is, polishing keeps it from
graying. Getting enough heat in the part to get
the stuff to stick is a challenge for me. If I
can overcome that applying solder would make
getting a level surface much easier.
I saw your gas tank repair last week in projects
and got me motivated to start on this one I
need to get done. Didn’t last long though as it
been sitting on the floor ever since.
Tubs
My approach is to work on one section at a time regulating the air pressure
to push the surface out. Then, using mostly my plastic hammer, I knock back
the high points, thereby bringing up the low spots. Success varies.
Several times I thought I had this all figured out only to learn that I don’t.
Tubs.
There are any number of videos on You Tube on removing dents
from (motorcycle) gas tanks without cutting them open.
While cutting open a tank can really speed up the process with
time and patience I have learned how to removed most issues from
a tank. After getting a tank as straight as possible using air (above)
I move to the method in the video description box. The process is
ongoing as I’m always trying different things to use as tools but its
really nothing more than everyday automotive bodywork.
https://youtu.be/U5NActQ9LOw?si=M7GCMUck77dCvi3K
Tubs.
There’s not much to it. You glue on what ever your
using and pull. If it comes off and it didn’t move
far enough you glue it back on and pull on it again.
Too far? Knock it back in. The black marker shows
the highs and lows. Just like using a guide coat when
doing bodywork. That what will get you to a flat
surface.
TubsTubs, I’ll have to give the “glue” method a try for pulling dents sometimes.
I’m surprised it even sticks good enough to pull dents.I went to the big city today to look for the 95% (Tin) / 5% (Antimony” solder
as mentioned in the article. The closest I could find was some 95% Tin, and 5%
silver, sold for “Hobbiest and Jewelers”.I tinned the three dent areas on one back corner of the tank, using the
alumi-weld rods, then used a little bottle gas torch to heat of the dents
and melt the solder in. The dents, being on a rounded corner of the tank,
was the first challenge. Filling in a dent on a flat are would have been easier.
It seem like the solder I bought was a little hard to get to flow how I wanted it.
The solder did seem to adhere okay to the pre-tinned areas though, and not
at all to the bare aluminum.
The solder was plenty hard when filing and sanding. I ended up using a sanding
disc in the drill to level it out, then sanding with a board.
The area I repaired kind of looked like a bad Bondo job, except using solder.
Perhaps practice, the correct solder, and more patience would help!The solder I used. I only found some “previously owned” solder on EBay that
had the 5% Antimony. ……. not sure if they make the correct stuff or not,
will have to look some more.
“Before photo”
“After photo”
I tried filling in some of the tiny pits on the repair areas, using the same
solder, and my electric soldering gun, with limited success.
Prepare to be boarded!
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