$185.00 +p&p well spent IMHO; tricky job done nicely, no apparent stretch or cracked paint.
Thanks Brian, I just wish there was someone closer. The place that did the repair, Dent Dynamics, in California, sells the holding fixtures and tools to do this type of work. What he can't sell is the years of experience required, but there are enough junk tanks out there that practice would be easy to do, since all you need to make a start is a cheap or free tank, a 2x4 timber to make a dent, and some of the required tools. I know the repair was made easier due to the proximity of the filler neck to the dent. The tools used are similar to a miniature wheel or probes and balls of various materials on a long rod that can be bent to get into the dent area. The protected filler or access opening is used for leverage and many minor pushes and taps from both sides give incremental results. The technique is apparently not useable for dents that include an edge or seam, and of course if the paint is cracked or chipped there is no saving that. The construction of a Vincent tank would have made access to a dent at the right rear very difficult, but I would bet if anyone wanted to save a great paint job with an inaccessible dent, cutting an access hole in the tank bottom would have allowed a paintless repair, or at least would have had the same result as using an English wheel, and the tank could then be repainted with little or no filler. The approach of completely removing the bottom at the seams seems pretty radical, and I am not sure it could be done without slightly changing the original shape of the tank due to lost material or overcut. I hope I never have to find out.
Ron
..John
