89 top gun fuel tanks,Remove?
 

Ok, so I finally got to start taking the gun apart to see what i've got myself into. I removed the cockpit interior and noticed the floor felt a little soft like there was not much support.I removed the floor last night and found that the support that runs right down the center between the top of the tanks and the floor was totally rotton. I'll get pics up tomorrow. should I pull the tanks and inspect further? and if so what is the best way to remove the tanks? It looks to me that i might have to do some cutting, but I am hoping not! any help and input will be appreciated.

If you do happen to cut into them, i'd safely find a way to get the fuel (if there is any left) out.
All it takes is a spark from a power tool to ignite. I dont know how the Top Gun fuel tanks are mounted under there, but assuming you can get full access to them, you may be able to pull em out. Most boats (at least from what i've seen) have had foam between the tank and stringers.
How old is the boat? The older the boat, the more likely it is to have flaws. It depends on how the previous owner took care of it. Has it been sitting for awhile? If I were you, id look over as much as you can, so you can prevent anything from happening in the future.
Once the tanks are out, you'll have a better look. If the floor support peices are rotted, chances are more stuff could very well be rotted too. Check stringers, and all supports....
Hope this helps!
Sam

I ended up having to cut my tank in my scarab in half to get it out. I ended up draining it empty and then filling it with water to displace any vapor. I then placed a fan in the boat and went at it with a sawzall!

Good luck because it was probably the worst part of my whole rebuild :eekdrop:

Pics can be seen here:

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...n-ongoing.html

Here's a pic with the floor up. You see the rotten center support. The support was plain wood with nothing on it, so I'm assuming that is why it is rotten. From what I can see of the stringers, they seem solid, But I don't want to stop checking too soon. If I have to pull the tanks, has anyone else done this on their Top Gun?

The fuel tank on my boat looked just like that when I pulled my floor. If you want to check your stringers if you pull tanks, drill into them and check the wood inside. If it is wet and mushy, it may very well be rotted.

Removed both tanks on my 1984 38' Cigarette and replaced them with new tanks. Here are some pictures. It was a b--ch.

RMP,
Did you have to cut the back wall out to get the tanks out? It looks like it in the pics. Did you replace with aluminum or something else? Thanks for the help.

Yes, they extended under the rear wall, into the engine compartment. Found the OEM mfg. of the aluminum tanks and they had all the original dimensions. There should be "tags" on your tanks that tell what co. made them and I believe that is who I used. I thought of cutting the tops off the orig. tanks and welding the cracks but the new ones were not that expensive.

thanks RMP, I think my tanks are ok but I'm not sure if i should pull them to inspect the hull and stringers under the tanks. is that part of a cig ever a problem for rot or being wet? is it worth cutting the boat just to check if the tanks check out ok?

Not to hijack but this is relevant to the discovery process and it fits here. Qs:

Is there a way to inspect the tanks without removing any flooring, etc? (Like sticking a bore-o-scope down there? Camera?)

How to flush out old fuel/varnish from tank that have been sitting?

Any help or prior experience is welcome. Thanks,

-Justin

I could use some imfo on this too any help would be great. I have a bullet with tanks that have been sitting for years with fuel in them 3/4 full. Belive it or not but the fuel don,t look too bad. I would never use it but I was hoping there is some product that I could pour into them before draining them like sea foam to break up any varnish and then flush them. I would have too remove alot of glass also to get them out and I'm hoping not too.
thanks Keith

I hate to say this, but those tanks need to come out. There is not alot of hull structure through the cockpit area of the boat because of the fuel tanks and your center stringer doesn't look so good. Pull the tanks, fix the stringer, check the condition of the tanks when they are out, then put it back together and seal the compartment up so water doesn't get in there. Follow what Gary did to get them out.

Thanks kvogt, I think that will be the best bet. Just hate to cut my boat apart if i dont have to. I've also started a rebuild thread on the rebuild section, its under 89 topgun rebuild.

well worth to go thru all this 100% while you're at it... easier now, than later if it leaks!

my buddies 90 top gun had the same issue. The floor in cockpit kinda let go and started flexing when walking on it. Found wood chunks in the bilge after a hard run. ..Thought WTF?????

Pulled floor, and noticed cigarette screwed a piece of bare untreated wood to the top of the center stringer, basically as a floor support. Well time took its toll on it, and it was just rotted. We replaced with a new piece of wood, and reinstalled the floor. No more problems.

OMG I hope I never have to do that!

:eek:

Thats exactly what it was, I scraped all the rotton wood out and vacumed it out real good to inspect. the center stringer looks real good and tapping on it sounds solid, but I think i'm going to cut the foam out between the tanks and stringer to inspect further. I'm glad to hear that ii'm not the only one that has seen this. however I cant believe that cigarette did such a good job on other things but then screws a plain piece of untreated wood down and expects it to last.

I found the same on one I was working on. Removed it, cleaned, added three back. The tanks and stringers were great.