Didn't realize that you hung out over here too. Glad to have you along here as well.

I got the fuel tank up out of the fuel bay today. It took pretty much the whole day, but it is up on the sunpad now. I can lower it down to the ground next time I work on the boat.

Overall, the tank looked pretty good. I found a small pit in the base of the tank in the area were I spotted the void in the foam last time.

Here is a video of the day, I'll post some pics as well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I01x0hyJndM The tank took a bit longer to remove from the boat than I had thought, and I still have to lower it from the boat. That part will have to wait. Overall. the tank does not look too bad for 18 years old.

Here are some pictures from the day of removing the fuel tank from the boat.

First, I got 2 lines under the tank and used 2x4 lumber as 'lifting' levers. The deck hatch actually came in handy as a place to lift from using the 2x4's.


During the process of lifting the tank, I took this picture of the space underneath the tank . . . it looks like it separated fairly cleanly from the foam. That made it easier to take out, but also further indicates that it needs to be re-installed after being re-painted, etc.

Usually, foamed in tanks are much harder to take out than this, because the foam is supposed to stick to everything and not let go.


Once I had the tank elevated to about deck height, I lifted the rear portion of the tank so that I could get some boards underneath, essentially making a 'ramp' for the tank.


I used a couple of PVC pipes so that I could 'roll' the tank up the ramp that I created with the boards. This gave it little friction, which is both 'good' and 'bad'.


As I progressively lifted the tank, which proved to be quite heavy (or maybe I'm getting weaker), I used some 2x4 lumber to brace the tank


At one point in the process, the tank flopped over and became unstable. So, I had to back it down and re-engineer things a bit. I also added a second 'safety line' around the lower end of the tank to give the tank a bit more stability, etc.

The tank did finally make it out of the boat . . . until it reached a point where I could lift it up onto the sunpad. . .




This gave me a first full look at the fuel tank bay . . .


Lots of paint left behind. Only the forward face of the tank had the foam come with it. The rest separated via the paint.

You can also see the bulkhead area that I removed at the outset of this project. Once I pull the remaining foam out of the fuel tank bay, I can then re-focus on the bulkhead. I will have to finish cutting the bulkhead remnants around the edges and also expose the butt end of the center stringer.

In parallel, I can work on inspecting, prepping and re-painting the fuel tank. Upon a quick inspection, I found only one area where there was a small pit in the early formation stages. Hopefully, that will be 'repairable'. The fact that the tank is 0.190" thick aluminum helps in that regard. My previous tank was only 0.125", which is more easily compromised.

I have been giving some thought to a revised installation method that will provide the benefits of foam installation, as well as an 'air channel' underneath the tank along the keel. I will post some drawings of this concept for comment.

Great job, thanks for taking all the pics along the way it is quite a job, considering it`s less than 30* outside.

Thanks. It has been cold and that tends to make things go slower.

These projects often start out small and then increase in scope once you start digging into it. Originally, I thought it was just an issue of moisture seeping into the foam and working its way into the bulkhead. I tried just draining the moisture and getting the bulkhead to dry out, but that did not seem to do the trick.

Then the scope expanded into taking out the bulkhead, which in turn revealed the fuel tank issue being the source of the moisture and why it did not simply dry out with my initial efforts.

Update - Next steps:

I might get a chance to work on the boat this weekend, with the Monday (President's Day) holiday.

The next steps would be to:

1) clean & inspect the fuel tank - I think there is about 1 gallon +/- of fuel still in it that could not be pumped out. I should probably purge the tank to get rid of the remaining fuel / fumes, etc. and then do an internal inspection of the tank with my borescope/inspection camera.

2) remove all of the remaining foam from the fuel bay and get a look at the darkened areas that are starting into the main stringers. I think that I will need to 'inject' some wood 'chemotherapy' into the stringer/bulkhead joints to stop the progression.is weekend, with the Monday (President's Day) holiday.

Seems like this is an 'old fashioned winter' on Cape Cod. More snow and cold . . . Might have to clear a foot of snow off the boat before I can resume working on it.

Yea in the western part of the state we have be getting it to, except I am thinking about shoveling part of the roof

I did some more work on the boat yesterday - President's Day . . .

The snow on Cape Cod was fairly heavy and some had accumulated on the tarp.


However, the tarp and frame held up, so I was able to clear it off.

I lowered the tank from the boat . . . gravity did a pretty good job and the snow made for a soft landing.


I set the tank up on a couple of saw horses and drained off the residual fuel, the best I could.


There were a couple dozen pitted areas along the belly of the tank. The depth to 'clean metal' was about 1 mm, maybe 1.5 mm at the worst case. The tank itself is 5 mm thick (0.190"), so generally the pits are 20-30% of the thickness. Once the depth of the pits approach 50%, then it is time to consider a new tank or welding repair. (IMHO)

I removed the remaining foam, mostly stuck to the forward face of the tank, and then gave the tank a sanding. I will probably have to use some paint remover to get down to bare metal in all areas of the tank.

Then, I took a look in the fuel bay and started to remove the foam.. Since it was only about 20 degrees F outside, much of the saturated foam towards the rear of the fuel bay was frozen. So, I worked on the forward area and exposed the forward bulkhead. The forward bulkhead had moisture beginning to penetrate from the middle. So, I will want to apply some corrective measures to this bulkhead as well. I could treat it with EG or perhaps replace it, same as the rear bulkhead.


I'll have to give it some thought . . . my inclination is to get it to dry out (since it has a fair amount of bare wood surface), then treat it with EG. . . allow it to absorb/dry out, then glass over it. But . . . . there would be a nice feeling to just replacing it and not worrying about it . . . Anyway, if I get a big enough piece of plywood, then I could replace both bulkheads.

So, as these sorts of projects unfold, this is now the second 'surprise' that I have encountered. The project started out with the intention of replacing the firewall bulkhead . . . quickly expanded to re-installing the fuel tank . . . and now potentially replacing the forward bulkhead. No more surprises would be good.

Here is a video of the day as well:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Nk8MNdZGTE

This is like how my boat started. Is not going to stop tell every piece of wood is replaced in my boat!