'85 v20 fuel tank replacement (done)

[Jbreen07]

My fuel tank was old and the bonding to the tank was gone a while ago it looks like and overtime electrolysis and salt ate holes in the bottom of my tank so it was time for replacement. I removed the deck plate to find the tank foamed in. there was also a cross support between the stringers nailed in that I had to remove. I tried cutting and prying the tank out to no end but it would not budge. the foam had created a tight suction to the tank holding it in. so I found out that acetone actually eats and desolves the foam. so I used about 2 gals of it and slowly (about 6hrs total) let it eat away as I chipped and dug away as much as I could. then I put a ladder across the boat to use as a beam and got a rachet strap ( a come along would have been much better but i didn't have one on hand) and eventually winched it out with that.

new tank- I took the dimensions and made a drawing of the tank and began to get one made (about 5-700 bucks) but I did a little digging and actually found a poly tank in ft. pierce. that would fit pretty well in the hole, it was only a 35 gal tank though (original tank was around 65) but the new tank and sending unit was only $150 so I went that route. I cleaned out the old foam and the hole and decided against refoaming it in. ( I was in a hurry and this tank is not intended to be in the boat for more that a couple years) I simply used some PT boards and shimmed it in real tight, added a new cross support and ran all new fuel lines and wiring to sending unit.

also- I HIGHLY recommend inspecting all of your fill and vent fittings in the side of the boat, mine had leaks and the vent fitting had actually completely corroded away leaving the vent line laying in the bilge. (very lucky I did not blow the thing up with all the fumes going straight in the bilge)

hope this is helpful to anyone about to tackle this project and let me know if anyone has anymore questionsIMG_0938.jpg

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