Beer, Gas, and Power Tools

    Well, it's time for the old girl to get a new fuel tank.I started to see some fuel in my bilge last spring and opened up the hatch and could smell gas. I put this off half of the season last year because frankly it took a little while (for my balls to drop) before I was ready to cut the deck out of my boat. THANK GOD (or who ever else you like) that I did. The amount of gas trapped in the foam throughout the hull was flat scary. I honestly can't believe this thing never caught fire-and now I know where all that gas was going (a few times I thought I got siphoned). I finally got around to roping my brother ( a 100 ton captain in AK) into getting things started for me. This is all second nature to him, but brand new to me-so his input is priceless here. He goes back to work in a week and we have to at least get a start on this before he leaves- so tune in for a "quickie" gas tank swap. Feel free to offer pointers, but be gentle-it's my first time:laughing:

    "Whiskey don't make liars, it just makes fools. So, I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said."
    -James McMurtry



    She's Out. Time for a beer run. Better save the install for tomorrow. :toast:

    "Whiskey don't make liars, it just makes fools. So, I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said."
    -James McMurtry

    I don't have a good pic of the boat clean Dan. I suffered a massive computer crash a while back and just wouldn't know where to look. I will get one up after she's all buffed up and full of juice. :)

    "Whiskey don't make liars, it just makes fools. So, I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said."
    -James McMurtry

    Dan,
    Thread a tape measure into the hole where the fuel sender goes. Measure from side to side of hole and front to back...cross fingers and cut. The important part is leaving a nice 'lip' for re-glassing the deck.

    "Whiskey don't make liars, it just makes fools. So, I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said."
    -James McMurtry

    There are no sketches available from the boat manufacturer? Or is this system of measuring reliable enough so it's not worth the effort to find them? I don't know what a fuel sender is, unless you mean where you pump the gas. If so I don't understand how you can measure through it.


    I read a few times about a leaking gas tank replacement. Seems like it's a common problem. I don't understand how boat designers don't take this sort of think into account. Isn't there a better material for a gas tank that will not deteriorate over time?

    My boat is a hand made boat out of Oregon, by a builder that is long gone. The boat is a NO KA OI brand in their 20' walk-around style. Made for crossing the rough surf of the Columbia Bar (or so I've read in the limited info out there). I will be replacing the original (1993) Aluminum gas tank (30 gal) with a Poly tank (25gal) from Moeller.
    Fuel sender is where the float is: Lower middle of Pic

    "Whiskey don't make liars, it just makes fools. So, I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said."
    -James McMurtry

    Edited once, last by Stick em ().

    One of the best thread title's of all time, right up there with Hank's "Fricken Jake...." It's got to be nerve wracking to cut a huge hole in the deck of your boat like that. Can you see where the fuel tank is leaking from?

    It looks like a few of the welds were not so perfect. Then again, I think 20 yrs is about average on aluminum tanks.

    "Whiskey don't make liars, it just makes fools. So, I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said."
    -James McMurtry

    Most of the time aluminum tanks corrode from galvanic corrosion due to dissimilar metals being used together, like an aluminum tank with a brass fitting or stainless screws. The actual pitting isn't necessarily next to the dissimilar metal, and could well be in the welds because of small stresses set up when the welds were made when the tanks were built. Moisture from moist salty air in the bilge becomes the electrolyte, and the corrosion begins, usually resulting in pits, then lots of pinholes. In fresh water, since there's no salt, the tanks last indefinitely. In salt water, 8 - 12 years, depending on whether the bilge is allowed to completely dry out between trips, since the corrosion stops when the moisture completely evaporates. Aluminum can be successfully used in a salt water environment if brass or stainless fittings are isolated from the aluminum with a nylon bushing, and aluminum fasteners are used instead of stainless.


    A poly replacement tank will give years of service if not exposed to the sun, which in the bilge it wouldn't be. Make sure the metal attached to the tank is grounded, however, since the gas sloshing around generates a lot of static electricity. The downside of a poly tank is that you may not find a custom shape that is an exact replacement for the aluminum one, and you might give up some capacity with the new tank.


    What do you plan to do with the fuel soaked foam?

    Quote from Reefchief

    Someone downloaded "the anarchists cookbook" as a kid.


    Might want to fill a tennis ball with matcheads and throw it at the homemade napalm.


    Add some dial soap to the mix. :thumbsup2: More fun to put a huge model rocket engine with a fuse in a tennis ball though. Those suckers GO.





    Stickem, dont envy you one bit but i like info like this.... helps those of us considering a boat in our future on what to watch for.

    Long day of cutting the last of the "napalm" foam out. It is drying in the sun, and headed for the land fill afterwards. Dropping the circular saw on the deck wasn't all that scary once you could see how deep to make the cut. Overall: 7 garbage cans full of gas soaked foam out of the boat. WOW. Mojitos with the gas fumes today. More pics with coming with sobriety, might take a day off for chocolate bunnies with the kid tomorrow.

    "Whiskey don't make liars, it just makes fools. So, I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said."
    -James McMurtry

    Quote from tufual

    i can't imagine just dropping a circular saw on a boat [ feels wrong ] good luck . :thumbsup2:


    Not as wrong as floating on a cube of gas :thumbsup2:

    "Whiskey don't make liars, it just makes fools. So, I didn't mean to say it, but I meant what I said."
    -James McMurtry

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