I do know I do know I do know… this bike construct has been occurring far too lengthy, however in my defence I do have a variety of stuff on. Just lately, aside from the puncture I’ve been faffing about with a press stud on the W/NG panniers, had the carburetter float bowl aside (I need to match a finer gas filter, the bowl is filled with particles and it is stopping the float valve seating), welded up an MZ tank and so forth. and so forth…
After a number of weeks of attempting to drag an enormous dent out with stick-on dent pullers – I occasion tried comfortable soldering one on – I made a decision the one approach I used to be going to get the dent out was to chop it out, bend the fabric again to form and weld it again in. Buoyed with confidence from the MZ TS125 tank, which got here out with solely two pinholes I made a decision to go forth with the little Dremel discs:
These discs are among the finest issues Dremel make, and the panel was quickly out:
Utilizing quite a lot of instruments, together with home-made bending irons, adjustable spanners and hammers I adjusted the physique of the tank and the panel I had minimize out to match a template I hade constructed from the nice facet:
I’ve purchased quite a lot of sturdy magnets through the years and held the panel in place for tacking:
The plan was to minimise distortion by making quick 1/2″ welds and letting them cool earlier than transferring to a distinct space, increase the complete peripheral weld in brief, cool bursts. I began with six-seven tacks:
And ended up with a completely welded panel:
This was dressed again with the Clarke power-file – a 1/2″ belt sander, which is proving to be a really useful gizmo. Subsequent, I closed off the filler neck with duct tape and connected a cycle pump to the gas faucet:
End result! Two small pinholes, fastened in seconds:
Subsequent, Slosh sealant – to make sure an costly paint job is not going to be ruined with a gas leak.
