Re: aluminum or plastic fuel tank?
My 96 Crownline 20' has a Mercruiser 40 Gal. plastic fuel tank, and my brand new 23' Stingray has a 68 Gal. plastic tank. Looking in the West Marine catalog you see that a 55 Gal aluminum and plastic are priced within 20 bucks of each other, but you can also get a custom aluminum tank made to the exact dimensions of your old tank. So that may be why alum. tanks are used, they can make them to fit in a hole and build them in-house, maybe cheaper than plastic.
My 96 Crownline 20' has a Mercruiser 40 Gal. plastic fuel tank, and my brand new 23' Stingray has a 68 Gal. plastic tank. Looking in the West Marine catalog you see that a 55 Gal aluminum and plastic are priced within 20 bucks of each other, but you can also get a custom aluminum tank made to the exact dimensions of your old tank. So that may be why alum. tanks are used, they can make them to fit in a hole and build them in-house, maybe cheaper than plastic.