What should I do?!

[Maine_Triker]

I'm depressed i don't know if I should buy a new gas tank for the 350x or fix the one i have? It's got a big dent in it. I know i can get a plastic one ebay for 150, metals are a little more. I think I can have it fixed for like maybe 200, probaly more though. The bikes mostly origional so i kinda want to keep it that way. Whatever way I go going to be about the same $$. What should i do, buy a new tank or fix it? It's funny i'm thinkin about repairs before it even gets here, lol.

[skippy]

throw alittle water in it and throw it in the freezer.. see if it pops out! worth a try...

[Just3]

buy a plastic one i spent hours fixing mine making perfect then the next time i went out i put a big dent in it

if you plan on riding it get a plastic one

[Maine_Triker]

thanx guys, i think i will try that freezer thing just to see if it works. If not i will get a plastic.

[bigredhead]

A body shop should be able to pull that out for you in a jiffy. !

I'd open the lid, and push it out with a piece of wood from the inside for now ! You'll still see a dent , but with any luck it should pop out and look a bit better!

[NOS_350X]

Dont even mess around, if you have the money jsut buy a plastic one, there soo much nicer.

[ClayW]

DONT DO THE FREEZING THING. It will bust the seams of the tank. Not a good idea. I personally wouldnt have a plastic tank. The fade, cant put decals on them and if they are white, they are prone to yellow. Jeswinehart had one on his old SX, and he jumped a hill, landed, and the tank split and belched the gas out on his hot motor. Luckily it didnt go up in smoke. I would fix the one you have. Metal is better in my book any day of the week. If it hadnt gotten so cold out, I would fix it up for you for much less than $200. I pulled a hellova dent out of mine and redid it. Looks new. And the decals stay on. I actually bought a tank from Mike from long island to redo as a back up or to sell on Ebay. Metal all the way.

[Lawsuit]

I belive that I would fix the old tank, but if you want to keep it good looking, and that this bump is only a isolated accident, which shouldn't happen anymore, a new tank could be a a good purchase.

[250rrider]

Hey I agree with ClayW, dont frezze it, it could damage it worse, and might not even work. I had a shacked 250r tank that i turned into a show piece with a little body work, some help from reading on the internet and some magazine articles, takes a little getting used to but fix the original tank. I used a bent metal bar and forced the most of the dents on mine out, i then used a metal fabrication and pounded back the little pin dents. then just use a little bondo to bring back the original shape. it sounds hard, but you might surprise yourself with results.

[hondaATCman]

If you can't get the dent out, you could always use Bondo or glazing putty, sand it all down and repaint with the Honda factory paint. I would personally never buy the aftermarket plastic tanks.

[ClayW]

Yeah, Metal tanks are pretty easy to fix up. I posted some pics of the process I went thru on my tank. It had a HUGE dent in side of it. I got it out and retempered the metal and filled the low spots with body filler, smoothed it out and repainted it With basecoat clearcoat paint PPG Omni. Looks like Glass. I have actually been looking a buying old tanks on ebay and fixing them up, painting them and putting the original decals on them and resell them on Ebay. I fugure I can get a good chunk of change out of them.

[250rrider]

That sounds like a good investment....my tank is ppg base coat clear coat..i had a buddys tank scaned at napa to get a color match...it looks like gass too...

[ClayW]

Yeah, I know the Honda Red Paint code, but not the white code. You can tell by looking at it thought though that its a bright white, not a dull or medium shade white. I just picked up the catalog with the 2004 GM colors in in and flipped through it for a few. Within about 2 minutes I found it. Its a 04 GM color called SUPER WHITE. Pefect!! I matches the new white feders perfect.

[hondaATCman]

I hear ya Clay, that's what I was wanting to do...find old metal tanks, sand and bondo 'em, prime and repaint with color matched automotive paint. I got a new set of paint guns and am dying to try them out!! I love working with metal tanks...I hate plastic. There's just something about using the putty and bondo, sanding it down all nice and smooth, priming and wet sanding, then the final coats of paint, then standing back and looking at it gleam in the light with new OEM decals. This is my second most favorite work during a resto, with of course motor work being #1.

[ClayW]

Yeah, me I would rather do Paint and Bodywork anyday of the week. I enjoy it quite a bit. I enjoy engine work also, but not quite as much as the paint and body work. I just havent had the exposure to engines that I wish I had. I would give anything to watch someone that new what they were doing rebuild the top end of a 350X or 250ES/SX. If I could learn that, I could handle anthing these trikes can throw at you.