So, my 71 RT1's tank is beat to hell. Its got dents all over and rust as well. Somehow the interior looks pristine, but that's beside the point. After searching on ebay I wanted to see what tanks have the same dimensions, as I see a lot more DT1 and HT1 tanks than RT1 tanks. I know that some had bolts in the front instead of the rubber bungs, but I believe that was only the smaller ones, like the JT1. If I'm going purely on the rubber mounts and rear hook for the rubber strap, it seems that I could put an HT1 tank on the RT1 frame. The only difference looks to be the petcock? Could anyone confirm this? I also see a lot of later DT tanks without badges that seem to have the same configuration. I would hate to put one on my badge bike, but would it work as a cheap stop gap before I find a clean RT1 tank?

Thanks

So the RT1 has a fuel capacity of 9 liters. From what I can find in the specifications, the DT1 is the only other badge bike that shares this capacity. The CT1 and AT1 both had capacities of 7 liters. They look awfully similar, but from this stand point I would assume that only the DT1 tank could be changed out for the RT1 without it looking out of place.

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c.winterwoods

How bad are the dents? It might be worth fixing your tank. Many of the tanks you'll see on ebay are pretty rusty inside.

69-71 RT and DT tanks physically all are the same - only paint differences. 72 up through 76 (including the twin shock 400,s also will fit but are slightly different in numerous ways (cap and in 74 the shape changed a bit).

The LT, HT, JT, CT, AT, JT, and GT bikes are all for much smaller frames and physically won't work.

I would second this. Much harder to find a tank with a good inside, and very challenging to find a used one with no dents that doesn't have a gold nugget inside.

I was thinking about fixing the tank, but one of the dents is pretty large and right at one of the badge mounting point, so if I bondoed the dent, I would have to fix the indentation for the badge as well, which seems pretty difficult to me. I'll try and get a picture after work and see if you all have any ideas.

If it's a large dent, using a dent puller may be better then bondo. Weld a small stud on the tank and use a slide hammer to pull it out. Once you pull it out, bondo could be used to smooth out the imperfections.

I Do not suggest:
Filling it with water and putting it in the freezer, it will warp everything. Same thing for compressed air. I tried a blood pressure pump and put it inside the tank. The theory behind it, is when you pump the air pump it will push the dent out. The tank I tried it on must have been thicker metal. It did nothing and actually the air bag-exploded, due to excessive pressure. some people have got dents out with these methods, but I have heard nothing good from it.

I have had a little success with turning canned air upside down and spraying it cold then using a heat gun. The rapid hot cold change sometimes pops the dent out (not always).

And the last option is paintless dent repair. The process involves using special pry bars to slowly work the dent out, from the inside of the tank. This is usually used on pristine tanks that have dents.


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I would agree completely with Devin's suggestion of paintless repair. I used a company called Dent Wizard to have door dents repaired on my car. The guy somehow was able to stick tools down between the glass and the window slot and remove the dents. They were totally invisible when the guy was finished...a real artist. These guys travel around on a schedule to various car dealers, and my guy was willing to "moonlight." If you find out when one of them will be at a certain dealer, you can take your tank over to him for an estimate. Just deal directly with the guy.

Well the paint isn't great, but it isn't rusty. I was thinking of just leaving it while I look for a new one. Bit of 'patina.' So I'm not sure if the cost of the paintless dent repair would be worth it. Would this also save me from have to coat the interior though? Is it just raw steel in there?