More rebuild questions, fuel tank issues.

[JSchaumleffel]

I noticed after taking the aluminum fuel tank out, it has numerous holes throughout. It is a 27 gallon capacity. I did some measuring and was able to find a couple plastic tanks close to the same dimesions. One was a 25 gallon and one was a 23 gallon tank. The problem is that unlike the current aluminum tank, these new plastic tanks have a straight fitting for both the vent hose and filler hose. This won't allow me to place the tank in the original opening with having clearance problems with the new floor and acess cover.<br /><br />

 

[JSchaumleffel]

Re: More rebuild questions, fuel tank issues.

The question is, what do you guys think about stepping up the floor a couple of inches in that back to accomodate the height of the new tank fittings in this area? All of the new tank fittings are on one end. I plan to put jump seats on wither side of the transom well anyways.<br /><br />Or eliminate the below deck tank, leaving the floor level, and placing a above deck tank in an enclosure above deck between the seats. I'm not real crazy about this, as #1 I could not get much of a tank capacity above deck, and #2 I was worried about weight distribution.<br /><br />Opinions please!<br /><br />

 

[bluewater19]

Re: More rebuild questions, fuel tank issues.

Just a thought,<br />Have you tried looking up the company that built your tank?<br />After all the cost of raising your floor a couple of inches and buying a plastic tank you might be able to buy the same tank you have now.<br />Good luck!

 

[KaGee]

Re: More rebuild questions, fuel tank issues.

Maybe Boomyal will pipe in... I believe he repaired his tank, but not sure if he used marinetex or something else.

 

[Solittle]

Re: More rebuild questions, fuel tank issues.

The blue plate on the top of your tank should have the name of the tank's manufacturer and the model #. Call them & get a price for a new one.

 

[dmarkvid2]

Re: More rebuild questions, fuel tank issues.

Mabey you can find a good aluminun welder, bring the old tank to them and have them build you an other one to your specs. Mabey if the holes are not to big, they can even weld them up for you, and do a pressure test.

 

[JSchaumleffel]

Re: More rebuild questions, fuel tank issues.

Thanks for all of the input. The first thing I did was to call the mfg. listed on the plate. Since this was made 20+ years ago, there are no longer in business. The second thing I did was go to several reputable welding/fab shops in the area. Both places said that they "could" fix it but when the aluminum starts to pit and oxidize, welding on it just causes more problems and more of the pins holes are just likely to show up again. The cost of repair and obviously the cost of fabbing a direct copy already exceeds the cost of new tank.

 

[fishingdan]

Re: More rebuild questions, fuel tank issues.

Shop around and see what it would cost to have a tank fabricated to the same specs. It might be less than you think or less than the time/effort/cost of other options. <br /><br />There are always tradeoffs. Moving the tank may give you a nice under sole locker for storage, but you will lose deck space and you will change the weight distribution. With regard to the weight distribution, not only will you be moving it, you will be raising it. I would only do that if you rule out your other options.

 

[Always Broke]

Re: More rebuild questions, fuel tank issues.

Years ago while I was in the auto repair business when we would run across a bad tank no longer available we used a liquid that we poured in the tank and it formed a rubber bladder as long as the tank didn’t have any huge holes in it. We never had a comeback on one. A place called Kanter Auto Products handles the stuff It’s $69 for a kit or $24 a quart, A quart will handle a 24 gallon tank. I’d give ya the link but they get fussy here if you do that.

 

[Tail_Gunner]

Re: More rebuild questions, fuel tank issues.

You cant find a suitable replacement here?.... http://www.iboats.com/mall/index.cg...&search_type=keyword&keywords=tempo+gas+tanks <br /><br />A little modification now might save a lot of trouble down the road.. just a thought.

 

[KaGee]

Re: More rebuild questions, fuel tank issues.

You might find THIS to be a good read.