I had corroded 100 gal aluminum gas tanks. The bottoms and about 1" up the sides were heavily pitted from water which had seeped between them and the floor. A friend recommended calling a tank coating company because they had fixed his tanks in place, however, they said my job was not for them because of the extent of the damage.
I got a quote from Ballard Sheet Metal to build new tanks with fittings ($1.250 ea) which I thought was a fair price (aluminum is pricey) but, close to $3,000 for new tanks was too much money for me to spend without a go at it myself. I removed the tanks from the boat, cleaned them THOROUGHLY of fuel and cut the bottoms off with a Skill saw. I then bought two sheets of pre- cut aluminum from On-Line Metals (a great resource). The sheets were 1" wider and longer than the tank itself so a proper weld could be made. I then had a neighbor, who is building an aluminum boat himself, weld the bottoms on the tanks. I did make a mistake in not pre-testing the repaired tanks before I installed them. I found a pinhole leak after everything was in place - Doh! Fortunately, I was able to repair it in place with an aluminum patch and metal bonding epoxy. On Aug 11, 7:07 pm, <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi Mike, Try Skyline Industries, 381West Center, P.O. Box 477, Pleasant > Grove, Utah 84062, 801-785-3534. In 04-91 I purchased two 54 GAL. ALUM. fuel > tanks from their Mr.Stan Anderson for $692.06. I stand corrected they are > tappered 13" deep at bottom and 16" deep at top by 20" high and 44-1/2" long. > When you get one out, you should find a name plate on top, with the address, > tank number and other specs. Ray > > --- [email protected] wrote: > > From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > To: UnifliteWorld <[email protected]> > Subject: [UnifliteWorld] Re: Fuel Tanks..... > Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2010 06:55:21 -0700 (PDT) > > I really appreciate all the input.I may well have a combination of > issues going on here. But, I'm fairly sure the issue is the fuel > tanks themselves as, along with other misc. crud, I'm getting a fair > amount of that sand-like stuff that comes about as a galvanized fuel > tank begins to break down. > > If that's the case, I figure I have to either replace the tanks or > "restore" them with some sort of of boil-out and epoxy coating > process. Has anybody had any experience doing this? Any > recommendations on getting tanks made? How about the fuel lines? Can > they be cleaned or do they need to be replaced also? > > Thanks, > > MAH > > On Aug 8, 8:42 pm, Rich Zimmerman <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > > > It may not be your tanks. Much of the fuel has 10% alcohol added, which > > tends > > to clean the dirt from inside the tanks and clogs the filters for a while. > > Keep > > changing them. It also attacks the rubber hose, so be sure to change out > > any > > that is not Alcohol rated. > > > It also loses octane very fast and attacks moisture which causes water in > > the > > tanks. > > > If the tanks are fiberglass, they will be ruined as it will eat through. > > Drain > > the water from the water separating filter each time you go out. Be very > > cautious in the spring as a full tank will absorb water from the air and a > > empty > > tank will sweat. There's two schools of thought as to which way is better > > to > > put in up. > > > Google it, there's all kinds of write ups and some magic snake oil to fix > > it. > > Star Tron may help. > > > Hatteras built boats with tanks as part of the hull. They need to be split > > and > > bladders or aluminum tanks need to be inserted. > > > Thanks > > > Rich Zimmerman > > > ________________________________ > > From: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> > > To: UnifliteWorld <[email protected]> > > Sent: Sun, August 8, 2010 10:52:48 AM > > Subject: [UnifliteWorld] Fuel Tanks..... > > > I'm pretty new to this site and to Uniflite ownership. bought a 1970 > > 27' Express about a month and a half ago. It's in reasonable shape, > > twin 318's,but I don't really think it's been used much in the past > > 8-10 years. Just been mostly sitting at the dock. > > > Well, since I've bought it, I've been running it. Almost every day. > > Figure I'll work the bugs out of it plus make my list off projects for > > the off-season. Biggest issue so far: Fuel tanks. > > > The port tank is really bad. Full of crud. Ran it about 55nm yesterday > > and had to replace the canister filter element three times. The > > starboard tank is better, not nearly as much junk. But here is one > > issue: When I try to run both engines off the starboard tank, the port > > engine will behave like it's starved for fuel, won't go above 2600RPM > > or so. Wasn't like that just a month ago when I bought it. > > > Otherwise, I think these tanks are going to have to go. Anybody with > > any thoughts, ideas or recommendations? > > > Thanks, > > > MAH > > > -- > > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > > "UnifliteWorld" group. > > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > > [email protected]. > > For more options, visit this group > > athttp://groups.google.com/group/unifliteworld?hl=en. > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "UnifliteWorld" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected]. > For more options, visit this group > athttp://groups.google.com/group/unifliteworld?hl=en.- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "UnifliteWorld" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. 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