New to this site and New to the V-20
 

Hey guys,

I picked up this 1983 Step-lift cuddy with a 2003 Suzuki 115 4-stroke (http://wellcraftv20.com/community/sh...ad.php?t=19197) a little over a month ago and have been working on as much as possible after my work hours.

So far I have....:
1. Purchased a Veada lounge seat in all white with legs and storage (http://veada.com/boat-lounge-seats/b...s-ld20014.html). I have not installed it yet, but that will come in a week or two. I went this route to make the GF and friends happy when I'm not taking the boat out fishing.

2. I have used a rubber wheel to strip off all adhesive stickers, pin striping, old emblems, etc... This process has left what looks to be in tact wax or gel coat where the rest of the boat has oxidized. I am still looking into a way to repair or remove this lair before I polish and wax the hull. I may just cover them up with new pin-striping and new vinyl striping.

3. I have purchased MaryKates on&off, a fiberglass repair kit, rod holders, flag holders (for diving and USA!) teak cleaner with sikkens cetol, Protec boat detail kit, wellcraft emblems, and other odds and ends

4. I have changed all oils, filters, spark plugs on the Zuke' with all recommended brands and weights. This took the uncertainties out of purchasing a used motor and gave me peace of mind.

5. I most recently removed the abandoned 60 gallon fuel tank and cleaned out the hull of all debris. The previous owner tried the power washer method. I, fortunately had access to a mini-excavator and went to town with that. We managed to loosen the tank with the mini, but couldn't get the tank out since I left so much foam in tact. I ended up using a cutting wheel, cut a 1' section out of the middle of the tank and took it out that way. I did discover 3 different holes in the aluminum and discovered that all fiberglass was in tact underneath! The whole process of removing the tank and getting the foam removed took only 4 hours.

I have been searching the forum quite a bit and I think I have the 44.75" x 31" , 60 gallon tank, however the opening in the boat is 47.5"x32". I should have measured the tank prior to chopping it up, but I was in the zone. Can anyone give me a part number for a moeller gas tank that has been dropped into the factory location? I would like to purchase this as soon as possible, but havent developed a definitive answer as to which part number i could use. Any help would be appreciated here.



I am very excited to get this thing in the water (hopefully around July 4th) and I will absolutely keep this thread updated.


Brandon (MA,CT area)

I will reserve this post too add more pics at a later date. I know the pics I posted were sub-par.

Welcome aboard. Word to the wise, Don't let Stink get his hands on the mini-excavator, it will never be the same again.. What you have done so far is great. I have no number for a Moeller tank. There are a few fab shops around Fl that can make a new one out of aluminum.
Maddsen & Co. made me one. Bob's Welding and Fab has made them for me and a few others.. Bob's leaked like a sieve, Therefore, I recommend leak testing it before you get too far along on the re-installation. I like to coat the aluminum tanks with coal tar resin prior to installation. Nothing is tougher IMO..

Hi Bpitz15. Welcome to the site. Great entrance.. not all of us have access to an excavator. I'm jealous. Nice looking boat. That's a great pic of the side of the boat looking thru the side view mirror. Love that one. You were right to remove that tank. Judging by the pic of that one hole it was an explosion waiting to happen. Sorry I can't help you with the tank size, but there will be other, more knowledgable people along shortly that will be able to. For now, welcome and happy boating. :beer:

Welcome to the forum, good luck with your "new" boat!

I should probably get a new seat for mine too.

rkc

Yea the mirror shot is cool for sure.....You give that hull a wet sand, compound and wax you may be able to get that hull pretty close to what that stripe looks like. I had the same effect with a large vinyl sticker on the side of mine...its nearly invisible now.

OOOOOOoooo! good idea!! I may have to give that a try! What grit paper should I go with?


Thanks for the warm welcome everybody. That pic with it in my mirror was the day I took her home.

when I did my 84 (same as 83 I think) i didn't find a Moeller that was quite right. fill & vents are in wrong place. Took the old one to Atlantic Welding Bayville, NJ. They matched the outside dimensions but didn't write them on the receipt, sorry. They did use thicker aluminum and added more baffles so it went from a 60 gal to a 57 gal.

Don't forget. the tank compartment is designed to be a dry space. It does not drain to bilge! always SEAL the hatch!

I don't mind dropping into the 40-50 gallon range in my boat. I think I just need to do the research here and choose my best option. I would like to avoid going custom built for this as I am trying to keep the costs down.

I think I did the heavy stuff with 800 first and then 1200 if I recall? Do a few google searches and you'll find everyone's favorite method. I had the garden hose on mist in one hand and sandpaper in the other and just went at it.

Oh NO!!...a multi-tasker!!...ppsssssssss....I'm not worthy...:sex:

finally got her in the water for the first time on Friday. I planned on it being a shake down run where I would learn all of her strengths and faults. I learned a couple things...

Everything started off well, got her launched, started right up, went through the no wake zone like it should. I started to give her throttle, planed her out and she started bogging down. Crap.

I started doing the analysis...I checked the bulb, it didn't hold pressure when running...had my buddy keep pumping on it and the motor ran fine. Unfortunately for me, my buddy doesn't have the forearms of Popeye so I puttered back in to the launch and took her out.

It's time to diagnose the problem. I am running off of a 6.6 gallon auxiliary tank at the moment. I haven't had the time to purchase a new fuel tank yet but I don't know if it could be undersized fuel lines from the aux tank... i dont know if my fuel pump is going on my motor, and I dont know if its my fuel filter or fuel/water separator.
First things first, I will buy a new fuel/water separator filter, I'll buy a new secondary fuel filter and see what that does.
Second, I'd like to purchase a new gas tank this week and hopefully get that in soon. That should help with the fuel line size issue.
Thirdly, i'd like some help from this forum, do you think I should look into purchasing a new fuel pump or should I trouble shoot first?

Any other ideas/opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Does sound like fuel pump...assuming ya had the vent open on the aux tank...lol

sure did! hahaha

Given the fact that the primer bulb got hard when the motor was off and got soft when it was running leads me to believe that not only should I replace the fuel filter, water separator and pump, but also pick up a new primer bulb... who knows if it has a bad valve...

maybe i'll do the pump last so that I can return it if the issue is fixed with the filters and bulb

-Brandon

Mine had different dimensions, but I found the best price for the moeller tank on iBoats

at the shop I work at I heve seen many ( ATTWOOD) bulbs leek air and cause a loss in preasure. I recomend replacing the bulb and put a preasure tester in the output and see what you loose . but also always change the filter when any fuel suply work is done . JUST MY 2 cents

always use a primer bulb sold by an engine manufacture ie: merc/Bomb/yamaha/ Zuki.... The primer bulb will rarely stay hard while the engine is running, you have to overcome what the engine is pulling to get the bulb hard, and once its pulls that fuel, its starts to go down, you're keeping the bulb under vacuum. I would normally go straight to the low pressure pump, but they actually give very little trouble. Pull the pump off the valve cover with teh lines still connected and pump up the bulb, if you have fuel leaking past teh diaphragm, you know the pump is bad. Easy way to test the fuel system is to buy a fuel pressure test kit, they sell them at the auto parts stores for a reasonable price. One thing most people over look on Zukes are the high pressure fuel filter, its not cheap, so it rarely gets changed. If its like most of the engines i work on, the vapor separator tanks needs to be cleaned out, fuel screen needs replacing and then retest, if it still acts up, high pressure pump.

Thanks for that information. I do have the VST fuel screen en route. I'll head to NAPA eventually to get the fuel pressure tester as well!

So now, I'll obviously for (maintenance purposes) switch out the water separator filter, fuel filter, VST screen, and fuel primer bulb and test the pressures in the fuel lines as I perform the work. If fuel leaks past the fuel pump when I pressure test the lines I will replace the $140 fuel pump, if not, i'll return it.

I appreciate the help guys!

Finally got to tear into the motor. Varnish everywhere.... See below

What you're looking at is the fuel from the fuel rails in one cup and the fuel from the low pressure fuel filter in the other.

The other pics are the Vapor Separation Tank and the Vapor Separator tank filter (new vs old). This is what happens when you dont winterize your motor or use stabil...

I'm waiting on my High Pressure fuel filter and it should be testing time!

Also tore off the old (OLD) Furuno depth finder and installed my new (to me) Humminbird 788 ci. If theres an interest in a working 1983 model Furuno, throw me an offer! haha

Today i should also be attacking the compounding, polishing and waxing of the hull.

Got her out on Saturday afternoon and she runs BEAUTIFULLY!!!

I made it out to Lake Quinisigamond in Worchester, MA I spent about 8 hours on the water with 2 co-workers. Did some swimming, fishing, sight seeing and blasting up and down the lake.

This is what its all about!

I put 21 miles on the odometer and only burned through 4 gallons of fuel. I wasn't being nice on her either. I managed to clock in at 35.2 mph as my top speed. Not too shabby with the 115 on it with 3 grown men and a bunch of supplies.

Didn't do much catching, but we had a blast in the process!

That's right. You did the work, put in the time and now you got to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Nice top end for a 115 too. What a way to join the fray. :party:

Just got a quote from RDS Tanks for $485 + Freight for an exact replacement fuel tank. I have their spec sheet so PM me if you would like to see it. If all goes well and freight doesnt cost a fortune, I will probably jump on this one.

Edit: $150.00 for freight...yeesh!!!

I was very close to purchasing a 40 gallon Moeller tank for $463.00 + Freight. Im very happy I held out.

-Brandon

Gas Tank is ordered, should see it in 3 weeks!

Off to Newport, RI tomorrow for the Newport Folk Fest. Gonna be taking off out of the Galillee Boat Launch and camping out overnight on the boat!! very excited!

Slow and steady progress.

Wet sanded the hull with 800 grit wet/dry sand paper, and in the pic is the first go around with 3m Heavy Duty compound. Shining up real nice! Still need to install vinyl and decals, polish and wax.

Gas tank also came in! I will be painting the tank with "coal tar epoxy" to prevent corrosion and will be foaming it in with 4lb pour foam hopefully by the end of the week.

I do have a question, I have some sag in my fuel tank deck panel. Can i bolt some aluminum angle or u-channel to the bottom to prevent sag? will it work before i seal the panel down? Has anyone done it or have any recommendations?

So, I got the tank installed and sealed into place!!

I started with coating the new tank with 2 coats of coal-tar epoxy.

I placed the tank in the opening, leveled it and braced it in the opening with 2x4s so the foam couldnt lift the tank at all and poured in 2 of the 2 quart pour in foam kits. This tank is in there good! and man is that foam messy!!

For the gas tank panel, i purchased some aluminum H-bar from McMaster Carr (http://www.mcmaster.com/#aluminum-h-bars/=ofjkvg) and secured three horizontal braces on the bottom of the panel to reduce flex. The panel feels much stronger and helps big time with my peace of mind.

I dont have any exterior shots right now but I also have it polished and got a stripe on there. More work to come!


Next big purchase is a cooler seat and new bimini.

I do have a full canvas enclosure for the boat that I would love to sell. I have the bimini, front windows, side windows and rear deck enclosure. All in fair shape with some rips and is very discolored.


http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...5/IMG_2698.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...5/IMG_2733.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...5/IMG_2734.jpg

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...5/IMG_2735.jpg

i'm jealous, mine is an 84 with the original tank, so i know its only a matter of time. i've owned the boat 22 years and every year i think this is the year it fails on me. congrats

Thanks PD!

If you need any information on where to get a new one or tips on how to get it installed feel free to ask any questions.

If you're sure the tank coffin hasn't taken on any water in the past 22 years you should be ok! The foam around the old tank on this one was drenched with salt water and it turns out it had some gasoline in there too! The salt water in the foam ultimately corroded about 3 different holes.

People are amazed at the fact that the foam holds water... but it does. After a while it absorbs huge amounts of water, which equals huge amounts of extra weight. When I redid my soft deck floor I discovered that all the foam under the deck was completely saturated with water. We filled several 40 gal Brute garbage cans with the water filled foam. Never weighed them, but I can attest to the fact that they were VERY heavy carrying them out to the curb on garbage day. I'm guessing that I got rid of 200-300 lbs easy. That's like an extra adult riding in your boat.

My wallet just cringed!

thanks bp, but after 30 years of use & abuse, i'm pretty sure salt water has been everywhere on this boat.
on a bright note, i'm only about 140 miles from perry, fl, so if i need a new tank, i can save a little on shipping

Yeah it was $125 for shipping to MA for me so, you would be saving quite a bit !

Couple more purchases made...

Ordered:

- Cobra MR F55 Fixed Mount VHF Radio
- Shakespeare 8' VHF antenna w/ mount.
- 2 new deck plates for my gas tank panel
- Todd Anglers Insulated Cooler Seat (http://www.defender.com/product.jsp?...170&id=1972735)

All from defender marine. Cant wait to pick them up this weekend and get them installed next week!