Fuel tank repair/replace help needed

Hi all! I'm a fairly new VFR owner and new to this forum in need of a little help. Bought my 2000 VFR800 in June and have already put over 4000 miles on it, I absolutely love that machine!
But on to my problem, few days ago got a small dent in my fuel tank from my elbow hitting it. Don't have pictures of the dent but will post when I can, but I'm a bit of a perfectionist so I can't stand it. Took it to a repair shop that did hail damage and they quoted me $400 because they'd have to repaint it, but they gave me the number of a paintless dent repair shop but said I could still expect a $150-$200 bill, although I haven't called them yet. On eBay I found used fuel tanks priced around $150 that appear in good shape. But the one I'm looking at is from a 98 VFR and I was worried about compatibility. I know most 5th gen parts are interchangeable but I didn't know if the fuel pump,mounting points, and tank cap were compatible and couldn't find any info on it. The seller also put (Y43) at the end of the part name which I couldn't find info on. Would I be better off repairing or replacing, can I swap out the tanks, and what does (Y43) mean?

Also, here's a pic of the bike not long after I purchased it :biggrin:

 

Seems like it would be the paint code but when I look up the Honda codes for yellow all I get is this,



Y-1 Ivory yellow
Y-1C-S Candy yellow special
Y-31 Parakeet yellow
Y-34 Sulphur yellow
Y-106 Clipper yellow
Y-124P Pearl shining (shiny) yellow
Y-130P Pearl hotrod yellow
Y-132 Beak yellow
Y-137P Pearl ivory
Y-140P Pearl lemon yellow
Y-141 Plasma yellow
Y-153 Mouth yellow
Y-158M Siena gold metallic
Y-159M Grain gold metallic
Y-160 Sunrise yellow
Y-161M Navona beige metallic
Y-163 Yellow
Y-163P Pearl flashing yellow
Y-170M Cyber gold
Y-181 Titanium
YR-1C Candy topaz orange
YR-3C Candy kent brown
YR-26 Shiny orange


When I look at the parts break down for the 98 model year, it doesn't help much either,

FUEL TANK

However, when I compare the part numbers between the years, they are the same so the part should fit fine.


1998 part number 17520-MBG-D00ZH TANK, FUEL (TYPE5)
0 $615.54

2000 part number 17520-MBG-D00ZH TANK, FUEL (TYPE5)
0 $615.54

 

As an admitted perfectionist, you'll probably not be happy with repairs........or much else. Buy a new tank, sell yours.

 

98 and 2000 are exactly the same tank.

 

Being a Paintless dent repair technician and shop owner, I agree with the advice of the body shop you went to. Take the tank to a PDR specialist and see if they can repair the tank. Since PDR work is generally done from the back side of the panel (generally I would go through the fuel filler hole to get access) I would likely prefer to go at the dent through the back of the tank. You would have to remove the fuel pump and filter assembly going this route in order to give the PDR company access to the back side of the dent but you will maintain the factory finish this way and have no issues with paint match. There are also some situations where the dent can be pulled from the outside using a glue tab puller but this generally works with smooth gentle dents as opposed to sharper ones. If in doubt as to who to use, check with a local car dealer as most of them have might have a company they use to work on their used cars. If the body shop is willing to recommend tem to you then that is usually a good sign. Check out the PDR company the body shop recommended and see if they have any before and after examples they could show you! and possibly some people they may have done work for. Honestly, you might be surprised at what can be done.

All the best and I hope you get the tank fixed, one way or another.

 

[video=youtube;zfRya_ke8Ps]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfRya_ke8Ps[/video]

 

Thanks for all the input! Here's what I'm working with. It's pretty shallow and hard to see unless in the right light for it to cast a shadow or see the warped reflection. I can't imagine that it would cost much to repair but I'm sure I could sell it and get a decent price for it, making my total out of pocket expense fairly low if I replaced it.