into the belly of the beast

[phatdaddy]

i know a lot of you have been through this, but i have been dreading it for 20 years, with a fresh motor on the way, i decided to take this on also. i have never had any problems with the tank, but in my de-rigging the old merc, i kept getting a wiff of gas, out with the old.

it is the pia all of you have said it was. i started at 11:00 today and had it out by 5:30, taking out time to watch the first half of the fsu game. main tool was a cordless saw-zall with a long brush blade.



this is what i had with the tank out, typical gummy yucky gassy mess with the pvc drain

this is my new best friend, $49 at harbor freight. worked like a champ



i can tell you guys this, but not my local buds. i would have been done 45 minutes sooner except when i finally got the tank to move about an inch, it froze. would not budge. i banged and pryed, cut more foam etc. i said screw it, went in to watch the game. came out 45 minutes later, same deal. finally looked up, the chain fall hook was jammed against the block, pulled tighter than a drum. dohhh!! rehooked the hoist higher, popped out like a rotten tooth.

sometimes i make myself work twice as hard.

[the daydreamer]

have you got a new tank already?there is a place in fl I think it is called marine surplus. new oem stuff at way discount price. for tanks you have to messure your tank the call them. they they can match it up. just found there name and address!! MARINE SURPLUS SARASOTA FL 941-758-3552. was your tank 60 gal and was it plastic? any pic of the tank out?

[bradford]

Good job Phat. Although you do know it's cheating using a chain hoist don't you?

Get rid of the pvc, just have an open channel underneath where the bilge can flow freely.

[phatdaddy]

photo of the tank, looks pretty bad, but no major leaks.



this is a lifting tool i made with rebar and anchor shackles. it all slides in the fuel sending gauge hole, then the shackles come back out the hole and the chain hoist hooks in it. was able to put a lot of pressure to pop tank out

dreamer, i called those people last thurs and left a message, no reply. i went to their website and could not find the listing for fuel tanks. might try again on monday

[phatdaddy]

this is a shot of the new 3" pvc drains i epoxied in the bulkheads, fore & aft. this ought to move some water & air through here.

a 3" piece of pvc is a perfect fit for the same size hole the tach takes, 3 & 1/2"

[bradford]

Great idea on that re-bar!

Your tank looks a "HOLE" lot better than mine did. Mine looked like swiss cheese. Had one hole you could put your fist in. Don't know how it never blew up.

Love that old cooler! LOL

[phatdaddy]

thanks b, that's a split lid gott 105 qt i bought in 1982 for $110. i was still using it until i found another one last july. i've had that cooler longer than i've had my wife, kids, & wellcraftv20. i couldn't bear to throw it away.

went to perry today and picked up new tank, now the reconstruction