Fuel Tank Replacement 87 V20

[RABBITFISH]

After I cut the foam bulkheads to fit, I epoxied the entire compartment and foam bulkheads to seal everything before I dropped in the new tank.

The nex pic is the new tank in place with hold downs in place to keep the tank from rising when I poured the foam in..
March 8- 9, 09 (14).jpg

This is the coal tar epoxy I used to coat the tank with, it only cost $23
Coal Tar Epoxy.jpg

After changing all of the hoses and filters and everything associated with the fuel system, I am very confident of the condition of my boat now. I also had stuck the camera into all of the holes and inspection ports to be able to check unreachable areas. Worked out great..
I can't figure out how to insert big pictures yet. This is still a learning experience for me....
Thanks for all of the help guys..

Tommy

[tsubaki]

Man, that looks good!!
D'yu run a bonding strap for lightning and/or static electricity protection between the nozzle filler, tank and zinc plate or motor ground?

[spareparts]

man, that coal tar is tough stuff, where did you find it so cheap?

[RABBITFISH]

Originally Posted by spareparts

man, that coal tar is tough stuff, where did you find it so cheap?

The brand is BP and there is a BP paint store here in my area. I had checked with another paint store and a similar product was around $54, believe it or not the salesman at the paint store told me about the BP store. I had printed out the pic to use for shopping......

[RWilson2526]

Great info there Rabbitfish, thanks for posting....I have my tank replacement on the horizon, this fall/winter. Not sure if I have the patience to do as good a job as you though....

[phatdaddy]

looks good, did you put cloth over the new foam supports, or just coat with epoxy? i have a feeling i am due for the same type project in the future....

[Blue_Runner]

Great post and nice work.

[RABBITFISH]

Originally Posted by phatdaddy

looks good, did you put cloth over the new foam supports, or just coat with epoxy? i have a feeling i am due for the same type project in the future....

No I didn't use any cloth, after cutting the supports to fit I just used epoxy to seal the foam cuts to stop any absorbtion. I also coated the entire tank compartment with epoxy while I was in there. The form supports were also stops for the additional foam pour to stop the foam from running into the center channels, creating the corner supports. The foam when poured along the sides will run under the tank filling the corners under the tank and rising up the sides to provide more support from underneath, along with closing the corners on the side locking the tank in place. This was not my idea, I had copied some of the other members ideas that had done this type of replacement before..

Tommy

[RABBITFISH]

Originally Posted by RWilson2526

Great info there Rabbitfish, thanks for posting....I have my tank replacement on the horizon, this fall/winter. Not sure if I have the patience to do as good a job as you though....

When I first became aware of the problem, it seemed like a major catastrophe, after calming a while and doing a lot of reading, (it was January!) I decided that either I could just go take out a loan to have it done, or attempt to do the job myself. On these forum's are a lot of other people that have tackled these types of projects, and were very helpful with advice, and how to's even to the extent of posting pictures. Afterwards, looking back, I'm glad I did the job myself, not only did I save what was probably a significant amount of money, I now have a confidence in my boat that is very hard to describe, along with the pride of doing what I believe to be a better job than what I may have obtained having it done by someone else.....

Tommy

[Blue_Runner]

Ah confidence......