As with everything else, scope creep has come into play and I'm now almost $40K into my $20K '87 Cafe 'refresh'. Some of it was by choice (ended up going with all new drives/TAs and a complete rebuild of both engines), but some was not - transom was completely rotted.

Now that I'm this far into it, I'm trying to decide whether to proactively replace the fuel tanks. They're not showing any evidence of leaking at this point, so it's a tough call. I'd love to really see the condition of them and the stringers/foam around them, but to really observe that stuff, you've got to tear out the floor and probably the whole cockpit liner. If I'm gonna go that far, then I would absolutely spend the $2500-$3K on new tanks and be done with it. Labor is the bigger part though. Right now, the shop that has the boat and is redoing the transom wants $7K labor to remove & replace them, which I think is pretty ridiculous.

Has anyone replaced (or thought about replacing) the tanks on their Cafe and if so, what did the whole thing run? Any other feedback or observations on replacing/not replacing fuel tanks would be appreciated.

i pulled the floor on my cafe to inspect the tanks. its not that big of a deal if the cockpit is out. didnt pull the tanks though because those are the biggest PITA to pull... weve pulled some tanks in some other boats before tho. 7k is a far reach IMO because i do boats and deal with customers all the time. if you brought it to my shop id charge 3500 to pull the tank if the cockpit was fully out. and probably 1500 to reinstall. hope this helps

Has the cockpit been removed yet?

Honestly if the job is anything like I hear with the top guns, 7k probably isn't far off. On top of the cockpit being removed, the floor and bulk head need to be cut out. Which means all accessories mounted to bulk head wall need to be removed (trim pumps, halon, batteries, etc). Then drain and cut out tanks, install, and put everything back together. Including re-glass and mounting everything. Price of 100 gallon tanks is what $1000 each. To do it right...$7k isn't a stretch.

Cafes the floor is molded and doesn't need to be cut out like the top guns. But it is a bear to get he floor to come up but at least you don't need to cut it

If it was $7K INCLUDING the tanks, I could probably live with that. But 7 plus the tanks, seems really high - even for the work involved.

I'm a Rigger at www.HannPerformanceGroup.com in Sarasota Fl - We have 2 full time welders and could fix the tanks for you and do the entire job for $6500 We take all creadit cards - give me a call 941 465 3822 cell/text apt Greg (I own an 88 Cafe Racer)

From the comments and everyone jumping in quickly to have you bring the 7 grand to their shop... i would guesstimate its a little high lol

Transoms are a bigger job than tanks and I would NOT replace it with marine wood - use Penske board or it will be rotted in 10 years again

Give us a call Capt Greg 941 465 3822

3500-4000 saying it was all ready to go. now if their is rot in there $$$$$$ goes up. call me 225-445-2110 and ill send you some pictures of my bullet getting this job done and the hidden stuff under the tanks.

dont forget tanks are not cheap 1500-2000+