Like s#it. Today I finally got the tank to pop 3". So I guess there is progress. I cut the orange area away in the rear bulkhead. I'm going to cut another 70% away so I now can lift the tank and move it towards the engines and then lift the front part out. As you can see from the pics I used 4000lb ratchet straps to pull the tank out. I actually lifted the trailer jack off the front blocks and when it fell it popped the tank. Scared the crap out of me. I chained one to the filler neck and the other I wrapped some 12-2 Romex under and around the pick-up fittings. The 12-2 finally broke after the tank was free.
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3"...movement and unsealing is a milestone.

That feeling when you realize the come-along is lifting the hull and trailer...glad it worked out.

From what I gather, there is a lip covering the front of the tank, and it needs to be moved aft to clear?

Rough all around.

I need To pull both my alum tanks. No leaks and clean inside, but the rubber mount system is covering the drain holes for the cuddy.
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Also found out that rubber touching aluminum will off gas and oxidize the aluminum.
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I don't have foam around the tank so I'm hoping they just lift right out. I have enough to on everything else.

Your 12-2 Romex probably ended up as 18-2.

Success and off to the fab shop.

Awesome. Glad you’re getting her fixed up.

A little update. Wasn't able to get new tank fabricated, so I decided to repair existing tank. I mig welded the corner I cut off back on. I then sanded the entire tank, wire wheeled out all of the corroded and oxidized areas, acetone cleaned the tank, filled all of the corrosion holes and skim coated the corroded areas with fuel tank repair epoxy. I then encapsulated the tank in 6oz cloth and epoxy. Next I'm going to apply zinc chromate the top of the tank and then bed the tank in 2lb closed cellular foam.

Why did you encapsulated the tank in fiberglass?

Instead of just rolling epoxy over the tank and having a thin film, I figured the 6oz cloth would give a thick barrier and structure to the tank. The tank had a good amount of corrosion and some thin spots in the aluminum. Epoxy is chemically resistant to fuels so I believe it will probably outlast the boat.

I like it.

You went through what I expected you would to get that damn thing out.

Ugh!

Who would have thought that removing and running the new fill and vent hose under the floor would almost end this project! 4hrs of contorting my arms and body and burning myself with a 2.5" hose that sat in front of a torpedo heater for 10 mins finally installed and hooked up.
Now just waiting for another 2 gallons of foam to arrive.

One thing I am going to do before I put the boat back together is cut out all of the lattice in the side of the hull. It serves no purpose and rattles in big waves.