250 SL Gas Tank

[dcooke007]

Great day to work out side in Virginia.....over cast with mild temperature. Perfect for working on my 250 SL fuel tank. The bike only has 850 miles on it and I have had it for a few years now. If the stars stay in alignment maybe I can put it back in operating condition and have some fun with it. The original tank was damaged by the previous owner. Fell over and severely creased the tank. The original exhaust was also damaged in the fall. Any way found a replacement exhaust and fuel tank. Stripped paint, remove dents with stud welder and filled low spots in tank. Hoping to prime and get some color on it tomorrow.
Danny Cooke

[pungo]

Dan

Tank looks great!!! Are you putting on the original paint? White or Red?

I am also working on my 250SL, hope to ride this summer as daily rider.

How did you remove the dents? I am not an auto body guy and have heard stories about removing dents via filling the tank with water and putting it in the freezer. I wonder about splitting seams if I do that. I have one tank that has only one small dent and another that has several big dents. I would consider that tank a good one to experiment with.

[dcooke007]

Hey Pungo,

I used a stud welder to resistance weld studs to the dents and a Shoot Suit Welded Stud Puller. The stud puller is a modified rivet gun basically and works well with light gage metal repair. You can find both of these items at Eastwood.com. I have attached some pictures for you. My SL is red and I will be going back with that color.

Danny Cooke

[pungo]

Thanks for the info. I will have to put that on my xmas gift list. Ordered the puller, may try the MIG stud welder attachment for now.