New Fuel Tank Mounting Advice (see pic)

[studlymandingo]

Just received my new poly tank yesterday; it is to replace my rotting aluminum tank that dumped its contents into my dry hold last week!!! It is a moeller belly-style tank that is basically the same dimensions as the custom aluminum tank that was removed. My issue is the filler-fitting (C), it sticks up 3" above where it needs to in order to slide under the deck. I really don't want to cut a hole in my deck to accomodate it; it will create a lot of work doing fiberglassing, not to mention it will create a hump in my deck just behind the console. I can install the tank oriented opposite of this and the filler is no issue; which brings me to my questions:

If I do this the pick-up (B) and the vent-barb (A) will have to be swapped; no big deal as they are the same sized fitting. However, it will make the pick-up be slightly forward of the absolute stern-most part of the tank; this would only be an issue if I were trying to get home on fumes, which I do try to avoid.

The second possible issue is the sending unit; it will be towards the stern-end of the tank. The old tank had the float in the bow-end of the tank which would read lower if I was on plane, when moving, I'm sure more fuel goes to the rear of the tank, which makes the gauge read more full. Does anyone see any potential problems with mounting this way?
I hope to do the install this evening and just want a few opinions before installing this way.​

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: New Fuel Tank Mounting Advice (see pic)

i see no potential problem, as long as you remember the limitations of the sending unit. your going to be picking up near the sender, correct.

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: New Fuel Tank Mounting Advice (see pic)

Yes, that will put the fuel pick-up tube right beside the sending unit. My last tank had the sending unit close to the bow-end. I try to always have more than enough fuel onboard to get where I am going and back.​

 

[Bondo]

Re: New Fuel Tank Mounting Advice (see pic)

If I understand this correctly,......

The Fill fitting will be Forward,....... Just as the tank is in the picture, If forward is Up,..??.....

If that is So,..... That'll be a Good Thing........

Aft mounted Fill fittings tend to cause Issues with a Gas Pump Nozzle when you're filling Up.......

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: New Fuel Tank Mounting Advice (see pic)

on my center console everything is in the stearn. boy i get great economy on the 1st half tank, the second goes in a hurry.

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: New Fuel Tank Mounting Advice (see pic)

That's right Bond-o, the fill fitting will be forward. On the old tank, it was more toward the rear, and yes, I had to fill it slowly. I will have to lengthen the fill-hose, but not enough where it should cause a problem.

ditto on the second half Tashasdaddy!!​

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: New Fuel Tank Mounting Advice (see pic)

My Poly tank is configured just like the way you are going to do that one .Never had a problem it just reads full a little longer and when it gets to about 3/4th of a tank it will show full when you take off but then drops back once on plane..
It fills up fine at the gas pump with little or no splash back..

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: New Fuel Tank Mounting Advice (see pic)

Thanks Gary, that's good to hear! I'm switching the pick-up and vent, but it's been raining all day so no install as of yet​

We need the rain though, so not too much grumbling. I'm ready for the weekend; supposed to be nice...​

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: New Fuel Tank Mounting Advice (see pic)

A little problem... The threaded bushings on the tank for the vent and the pick-up are different on the inside. As you can see in this photo, the pick-up is an o-ring setup with no threads; the vent is a threaded fitting.

I'm not exactly sure how to proceed here. The threaded bushings in the tank are heat-welded to the poly tank; so swapping the bushings out is not an option. I can take the pick-up tube off of the pick-up and it will function as a vent. But that leaves me with the issue of making a pick-up out of the vent. Does anyone know if I can get a fuel pick-up that is threaded? If so, where?​

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: New Fuel Tank Mounting Advice (see pic)

Man,Thats a real bummer! There has to be a way to adapt it. I wonder if a call to the company that makes the tank could help.

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: New Fuel Tank Mounting Advice (see pic)

Looking at the tank again,Would extending the vent hose and fuel line and leaving those fittings in the original location be an option?

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: New Fuel Tank Mounting Advice (see pic)

The only issue with leaving the fittings as-is would be the fact that the pickup tube would be at the bow-end of the tank; I would think that under acceleration the fuel would gravitate towards the stern-end of the tank. I would imagine having the pickup as far to the stern end of the tank would be the best placement as the fuel would be "deeper" at that end.

I've been looking online for a place to buy a pickup fitting; I have yet to find any place that sells them. I'm going to try the Goodyear hose shop here in town tomorrow, hopefully they can make something.

I'm hoping this doesn't turn into a huge pain. The tank fits nicely into my boat, this is a PITA though!​

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: New Fuel Tank Mounting Advice (see pic)

I see your reasoning,you would need to keep about a half of tank to keep from sucking air while getting on plane.That would be no fun.I hope they can fix you up at the Goodyear place.Good Luck!!

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: New Fuel Tank Mounting Advice (see pic)

Hey Studley,What did you come up with? any luck?

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: New Fuel Tank Mounting Advice (see pic)

Not yet, had to go to Boston over the weekend. I'm still up here, there is a Nor'easter blowing in, its cold windy and rainy and there may be flight cancellations

Hopefully I'll make it home to sunny Florida tomorrow so I can get back to fixing my boat, then on to boating! Can't do any boating here right now!!!

I'll post my results as soon as I can get back to the task at hand.​

 

[Gary H NC]

Re: New Fuel Tank Mounting Advice (see pic)

Have a safe trip.Let us know what you figure out.

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: New Fuel Tank Mounting Advice (see pic)

Made it back to Florida alive! Lots of wind and rain the whole way.

I got my pickup tube situation taken care of. I got the wrong guy at Goodyear; it was like explaining physics to a dalmation. They are usually very helpful there; but it put me on the right track nonetheless. The guy down the street at the local marine salvage place http://www.salvagemarine.com/ this is a good place to browse; beats the heck out of the mall! Alec hooked me up with a new tube that worked perfectly.

It was a very tight fit, took a little help from the neighbor and a pry-bar. The tank is in, the fuel line hooked up, the sending unit hooked up; now I have just one issue; the fuel filler hose is now waaaaay too small. Anyone have any ideas as to where I should check locally? I went to advance auto and they don't carry it; NAPA was closed by this time, as was the Goodyear place. I will probably check both places in the AM but any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated; I really want to get her in the water this week! Still haven't been able to check out my new hydraulic steering.​

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: New Fuel Tank Mounting Advice (see pic)

Whew!!! It's finally installed. The pickup is to the stern-side, ground wires are hooked up, new fuel-line, new vent tube, new filler tube; I just have to do some minor mods on the hatch cover to accomodate the new configuration. I had to install 8' of filler hose in place of the original 4', but there are no tight turns so I think it will be just fine. Feeding the new filler was something less than a joy; I literally had my entire arm in a 4" hatch inching the tube up the inside of the gunwale. I couldn't really pull it out because every time the muscles in my arm flexed, I couldn't pull my arm through the hole .

Before I drop the console back down, I am going to do a little wiring work under the console. It looks like the spaghetti incident under there now; it is easily accessible right now so I'm going to take advantage of that fact.

Hopefully I'll have it together to run her this weekend; this whole earning a living thing is seriously cutting into my boat repair time!!!!:redface:​

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: New Fuel Tank Mounting Advice (see pic)

quite bragging about the arm muscles.

 

[studlymandingo]

Re: New Fuel Tank Mounting Advice (see pic)

Definitely nothing to brag about today...They are red and itchy from fiberglass Couldn't get the arm AND a long-sleeved shirt through that hole.

I also had to take the filler off in order to get the old hose out, 3 of the 4 lock nuts fell into the netherworld inside the gunwale. That old hose was a PITA to get off the filler neck! Had to cut through the outside layer of rubber, then snip through the wire 4 times with tiny dykes, then cut through the inner layer and peel it back with a screwdriver... All through that little hole!​