What year did the bigger gas tank happen?

I had a 75 or 76 which I got from a friend in 79 and ran until 85 when I sold it for what I had paid for it. It was so long ago that the boat had a head in that flushed straight to the ocean, no holding tank. It had the saddle tanks which held about 15 gals each as I recall. I'm looking at an 85 right now from the guy who bought it new and it has the 60 gal tank built into the hull. When did they make this change and are there any worry's with this tank? Thanks for the help.

[reelapeelin]

Originally Posted by Golfer22

I had a 75 or 76 which I got from a friend in 79 and ran until 85 when I sold it for what I had paid for it. It was so long ago that the boat had a head in that flushed straight to the ocean, no holding tank. It had the saddle tanks which held about 15 gals each as I recall. I'm looking at an 85 right now from the guy who bought it new and it has the 60 gal tank built into the hull. When did they make this change and are there any worry's with this tank? Thanks for the help.

Golfer, I had a '74 that came w/2-20 gal saddle-tanks...I never ran it that way, but pulled them and installed twin 40s under seat boxes...worked well from '99 to '10 when I sold it...

Wellcraft went to in floor belly tanks in '78 when they revamped the V20 to include a self-bailing deck...at first it was a 40 gal tank, but soon went to a 60 gal, which is what your '85 has in it, unless PO changed it...about the only issues discussed here have been soft decks over the tank due to core water intrusion...as far as the tanks themselves, every now and then somebody has to replace one due to pin-hole corrosion, but I haven't noticed any rampant repeat problems...sea trial that boat before you commit...good advice w/any boat purchase...used or new...

Post some pics here if you can...

[RWilson2526]

Our member Tsubaki posted this the last time the question came up:

I haven't went through all the catalogs and only looked at the cuddies. Best I can tell, it looks like until 1977 they had 40 gallon saddle tanks.
1978-80 had 46 gallon belly tanks.
1981 and newer had 60 gallon belly tanks.
Got tired of squinting after that.
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As far as the original 85 aluminum gas tank goes its a crap shoot...could be fine, could be starting to get holes in the bottom or already have some....generally they were surrounded with foam and if the foam got wet then your tank could be corroded. if the hatch above the tank was kept well sealed then it could be fine....There have been TONS of tank replacements documented here but I'll bet 8 out of 10 are replaced because owners are reparing floor or stringers and figure might as well do the tank....There have definitely been owners with leaky tanks for sure though. Unfortunately there is no real good way to tell short of smelling gas in the bilge.

[reelapeelin]

At some time or other, they went to plastic tanks...my '95 had plastic...anybody know what year that started happening?...

[SkunkBoat]

Is there a good seal of silicone on the hatch? That compartment doesn't drain to the bilge so whatever gets in has to run across the tank to get out the back and hopefully doesn't soak into the foam.

Tank should have a manufacture data plate.

replaced my "84 tank in 2007 because the screw holes for the sending unit were so stripped out and enlarged that only 2 put tension on the gasket. The grounding tabs were somewhat corroded and I was afraid of what might be lurking.
Turned out the rest of the tank was in good shape but I replaced with new $500 from speedytanks(Atlantic Welding). I hind sight, fairly cheap, easy replacement. Worth the peace of mind.