Dent removal chief tank

[jn1972]

I have to remove a few dents from my chief tanks ,the auto body guy wants to use a stud welder and slide hammer ,but he wants me to neutralize any gas fumes in the tank ,what can I put in the tank to get rid of any gas fumes ? Thanks jerry

[1950Panhead]

Fill the tank with water completely, let it run out top, then empty completely, do this three times, then sniff, gasoline smell should be gone

[exeric]

I've always used Tide with the water. Slosh it well, and rinse by just leaving the hose in there for awhile. TSP also works good on oil, and solvents.

[Skirted]

I do car tanks with hot water with decent concentration of laundry detergent. If I was the welder, I would be the one taking responsibility to clean the tank.
How bad and where are the dents? You may have other alternatives to studs.

[fillibuster]

I do car tanks with hot water with decent concentration of laundry detergent. If I was the welder, I would be the one taking responsibility to clean the tank.
How bad and where are the dents? You may have other alternatives to studs.

Oh shucks! If you pull hard enough you get holes in your tank!
I bent up a piece of #5 rebar and welded a flat washer to the end, then inserted through the bung, and used the little hammer, and patience.

[jim d]

I used 1/4 20 nuts and soldered them to the tank and pulled them with a sliding hammer puller with a 1/4 bolt to thread into the nut. sometimes the nut will pull off but you can also move it around. Later I used small dime sized discs of steel high temperature silver soldered to stainless nuts. You have more surface to solder to, less pull off and the lead solder dose not stick to the stainless. you can clean them up in a glass beader. Tin the tank first using a larger soldering gun or iron no flame. Blast the tank to remove the solder.You can cut the discs out square and put them on a bolt to grind them or in a lathe to turn them. When welding a tank after washing it out well we would take a hose and stick it into the tank and into the tailpipe of a car to let some of the hot exhaust dry and remove any fumes left. The hose would be smaller than the pipe so just some of the exhaust was diverted. I have heard of people using a hair dryer but then you do have that hot coil close to the tank. Before I welded a tank I always put on my heavy welding glove and hood and stood around a corner with a wall between me and the tank and put a propane torch in the filler as a test. Never had a problem but I never put that torch close until the fumes were gone.
Jim D

[PRG]

Howdy Jerry,

I'd ask the body guy how he is going to secure the tank to the table to slide the hammer dents out. If he's merely holding the tank down with one hand and pulling with the other, not to concerned but if clamping down using the three mounting ears you run the risk of the 70 year old solder fracturing. The same applies to pulling any dents near the vertical walls of the oil tank.

[cdf6333]

I was a huge fan of using original parts for years. I'd spend hours fixing something to avoid repro stuff. BUT, the best move I ever made was buying repro tanks for my 46 Chief. In my over 55,000 miles I'll bet I soldered the tanks 20 times. I'd just smell gas in the garage and look and sure enough another leak. I got to where I never even drained the gas. I'd tilt the tank, brake clean the area, brass wire brush it, blow it and solder with my big electric iron. I used a radiator pressure tester to pump 3 lbs in as a test and put it right back on the bike.
After the bike was totalled in 2012, I went with new tanks! Not one problem since and nobody is the wiser. Solder is not the way to hold 60 year old parts together on vibrating machines.
Bob leakproof Courboin

[D.A.Bagin]

I tried to keep everything as factory supplied on all my bikes including my 440. It is a well maintained bike, not restored in all the years and having all its original parts. After going thru 2 re-paints on the tanks in the past 4 years, and hearing the horror stories about Fours leaking at the tanks and going up in flames after the gas drips on the mags or generators, I bit the bullet and waited the couple months to get a welded set of tanks this winter to replace the soldered ones after the last set of leaks. They are from Iron Horse Corral, were a perfect fit, and at least now it is one less thing I worry about as I ride my bike, as it isn't a static display. The original tanks look good hanging on the garage wall anyhow. The only downside is my good friend breaks my chops because he knows how I try to keep all the bikes as original as I can.

[36 knuck man]

I sent my org paint tank to dent dynamics, fantastic job, quick turn and very reasonable

[tomfiii]

When doing that work to tanks,pull apart and redo all solder joints! It's not worth it to not do it.

[PRG]

Howdy chaps,

Unlike Chief tanks that can not only have solder adhesion issues - especially risked by folks not carefully aligning their oil pipes before tightening down - but splits in the vertical walls of the oil compartments, Four tanks fail most often in one area, the speedo cable cutout. Yes, this is right over the cutout/regulator/magneto so can be a safety issue. The flange off of the vertical wall is not wide and may not be aligned with the cutout in the floor of the tank body here. The head steady to the motor affixed to the frame on the rear tank bracket may cause the rear tank tab to be misaligned which may/may not add to the stress at that area. Speedo cables, especially with thick exterior wrapping around the metal housing can prevent the tank tab from laying stress free against steady bracket face. If your rear tab looks to have been bent by excessive tightening to get it to lay flat against the steady or if loosening this bolt causes the tank to back away as compression of the cable housing is eased off, you are likely going to have a problem at the cutout or close to it.

On tanks never repaired with a problem in this area it can be resolved if addressed very locally. The problem you find often with previous repairs as they were to macro in their approach applying too much heat for too long to too wide an area thus weakening the seam along the tank floor in either direction.