A quick update. . . Coming to you from I-95 near Daytona, Florida, as the Admiral and I make our way to southern FL.

I may get a chance to pull the tank out this coming weekend. This will give me a chance to inspect the tank for corrosion and plan out the next steps. I am anticipating that the tank may come out fairly easily as compared to the process that i went though with my F-242, since the paint is separating from the tank. I probably will pull all of the remaining foam out of the fuel bay as well to get a more complete look at the main portions of the structure.

Based on what I find with the fuel tank, in terms of corrosion, if any, I will have to decide on whether to refurbish the tank or replace the tank. FWIW- I replaced the tank on my 242, because I found some fairly deep pits in the rear face of the tank.

Any advice on the tank assessment? I'll post some pics once I get the thing out.

fuel tank Removal Update:

Today I started to remove the fuel tank, which is a bit of a process. A few weeks ago, I removed the helm seat to expose the deck hatch and tilted it up for a first look into the fuel tank bay.

I started out the day by repositioning the deck hatch so that I would have room to work, etc. Then is was a matter of removing the waste tank, which is suspended over the fuel tank.

Here is a video of the day . . . I am finding the videos fairly easy to put together versus a slew of photos, but I did take a few stills.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVFSOpJhRxo I did not quite get the tank to 'pop' out of the foam today. The foam seems to be separated from the tank most of the way around the tank, but some of the saturated foam, low in the fuel bay is frozen. Perhaps that has a grip on the tank . . .

I'll have a bit more time to work on the tank tomorrow morning, so I'll see if I can get the tank to come out.

Here are a bunch of still photos from yesterday, working on the fuel tank removal . . .

I managed to jockey the deck hatch around so that I could get all of the 'junk' that I forgot to remove from the ski locker. What you see here is the underside of the ski locker as the deck hatch is propped up on its end. I elevated the deck hatch with some boards to hold it out of the fuel tank bay and secured it with some lines. I'm guessing it weighs about 300 lbs, so it may just stay where it is for the duration of the project.

http://home.comcast.net/~tpenfield/F...s/IMG_3551.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~tpenfield/F...s/IMG_3553.jpg

I heated the hose connections to the waste tank so that they would be a bit more pliable in removing them from the fittings. This is a technique that I use fairly often with older hoses as they become brittle with age. These hoses have been in place for 18 years.

The waste tank came out fairly easily, yet still had about 1 gallon of 'pee/poop' in it . . . very gross. I am not sure how much antifreeze made it to the waste tank from my winterizing. So, I will have to sharpen that process up a bit.

http://home.comcast.net/~tpenfield/F...s/IMG_3554.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~tpenfield/F...s/IMG_3558.jpg

I got the tank and its 'carrier' out of the way so I could get clear access to the fuel tank. I started pulling the foam out from the sides of the tank with a pry bar. The paint from the tank came off, on the sides and rear of the tank. the front face of the tank, was different in that the paint held and the foam stuck to the tank, as it should.

http://home.comcast.net/~tpenfield/F...s/IMG_3566.jpg

So, I suspect that the tank was not properly prepped on all sides before painting. Probably, just the front face was prepped. Of course, with my luck, the underside was probably prepped, which will make the removal of the tank all that much harder

I did not get the tank to 'pop' out from the foam, as I stated in my earlier post, but here are a couple of pictures that I took of the rear face of the tank. there is some corrosion showing, but not bad at all. My hopes are that the underside of the tank is also in decent shape (else the boat budget is gonna take another beating this year)

http://home.comcast.net/~tpenfield/F...s/IMG_3583.jpg http://home.comcast.net/~tpenfield/F...s/IMG_3586.jpg

A quick update:

I got the tank to 'pop' out from the foam today. The tank is still in the boat, but it is loose all around and ready to be lifted out of the boat.

Here is a video of the day. . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmOydPhA_vw

I took some pictures of the underneath of the tank before I packed things up for the day, yesterday. A couple of the images have me a bit concerned about the tank . . .

I noticed that there is a void in the foam along the belly of the tank . . . this is about 1-2 feet from the rear of the tank

http://home.comcast.net/~tpenfield/F.../IMG_3630A.jpg

Then there seems to be a corresponding dark area on the tank itself . .

http://home.comcast.net/~tpenfield/F.../IMG_3631A.jpg

My concern is that although the tank looks pretty good overall, one deeply pitted area can ruin it. So, I will have to see what it looks like at closer inspection, once I get the the tank out of the boat.

I am thinking that I will want to come up with a installation/foaming method that will insure a solid fill along the belly of the tank. Ideas, comments and thoughts welcome on that aspect of the repair (and any aspect for that matter)

:)

While I have no pearls of wisdom to offer this is an awesome post and I appreciate you taking the time to show pics and videos. Although I would hate to have to tackle a job like this I find it supremely interesting and educational when others do

Thank you for your good words. It seems like part of the process when owning older boats. There are items that need attention and the scope of those things can take you places that you had not originally planned.

Once it became apparent that the issue was fuel tank related, properly fixing it became the priority. This boat should have good longevity once everything is put back together.

Thanks for sharing all this, it will be very valuable to future Formula owners! Best of luck with your project!

I be watching ;)