Leaded 53 tanks

[ssantelman]

1953 FL
The sides of my tanks were filled with body filler lead with no tapped holes for the Harley Davidson emblems and bar. I think the sides should be recessed, steel brackets welded/soldered in place and filled around the tapped bosses.
I am at a loss how to proceed. If I try to melt the lead out of the recess, I think I will distort the tanks.
I will appreciate some feedback and ideas.
Steve

[Rubone]

The sides of the tanks were never tapped. They merely had dimples behind the spot welded bracket where the screws came through that the emblems were mounted on so the screw would not contact the tank. The emblems sit on top of the surface, no recess. And warming the tanks up enough to lose the lead is not enough to distort them (the reason why lead is used in the first place!).
Heat gently and the lead will come out. However you need to remove ALL of it before welding on new mounting strips. So get out as much as possible and sand off the remainder.
And go up to the welcome section and introduce yourself!
Robbie

[T. Cotten]

Steve!

Lead has great advantages over bondo, if you can work with it. Basically that takes patience and a very good iron.

And the lead need not be tediously removed if you tin and solder your badge strips (Shown in attachment the step of tinning an earlier tank, which has already been accomplished with lead on your tanks.)
This not only avoids the metal stress of welding (notice how brackets alway break at a weld?), but it allows you some fudge factor if your layout wasn't quite right.

They do not fall off.

The real chore is the layout.
I find it necessary to hang the tanks on a frame and step back a good distance to tape off badge locations.

....Cotten

[exeric]

I agree that lead is an ideal metal filler and metal joiner. It takes some getting used to and requires a whole different set of tools but the results are still superior to many modern materials and techniques. You also have to be very mindfull of the dangers of lead and take those precautions seriously. I use 50/50 solder (lead/tin) for most things, but there are other alloys that will suit a specific need or if you have to use different melting point leads to bond a tank, etc. I think it's the only way to make a hinged H-D fender hold up to actual use. Big, high amp soldering irons, and big copper irons that you heat with a torch have given me the best results.

[ssantelman]

Thanks for all the feedback. I am definitely armed with better information now.

If I do not remove the lead from the dimples, I will shorten the screws so they do not extend through the badge stripe. It is an excellent point that the lead on the tank 'tins' that surface. My next step is to find a soldering iron like Cotten showed in his picture.

Robbie, per your suggestion I made and entry in the welcome section. Either it is still in review or I did not enter it properly. If it does not appear in the next few days, I will try again.

[T. Cotten]

Steve!

I'll admit to using a propane torch with a small tip at times.

....Cotten