replacing fuel fill and vent lines

[Capt. Bob]

Gentlemen,
We have two members doing basically the same thing at the same time.

Heavy,
If you haven't checked Gran's earlier link lately, there are "new" photos posted that may help your cause.
Take a gander, if you have not already.

Here's the original, posted link.
http://classicaquasport.com/smf/index.php?topic=11682.0

You two (NC Aquasport) need to talk to each other.

EDIT: OK, I got you both in the same forum, right next to each other (for the time being).

Good luck to you both.

[HeavyDinSC]

Keith, Capt. Bob, Georgie and gran,
Thanks for all the input and suggestions. Good stuff. And good guess, it is an '86. It has evidently been in the Charleston area waters most of its life. I bought from a local guy who had it for five years after he bought it from his father in law, who had it down on Edisto Island for about 20 years. Not sure about before that.

The upper end of the fill hose is slightly cracked, so it's looking like a good candidate for replacement. Also, when I initially tried the comealong at the lower end to remove it, the timberhitch I tied succeeded in severely crimping that end. I'm looking forward to checking out the photos of those other projects as I'll probably end up putting in an inspection port so that I have access to the problem area.  

Regarding the line from the tank to the filter, fortunately, the chase where the hose lives is a straight shot on one plane so it doesn't offer any low spots for fuel to accumulate and sit. But I am planning to replace the line from the filter to the engine.

Thanks again everyone.

[HeavyDinSC]

Keith,
Thanks for the suggestion. After putting the hose on a comealong again and then attaching the trailer to the car and giving it a little more force, I then followed NC Wilmington's approach and drilled a hole in the hose near the forward end of the coffin to begin twisting. After taking the strain off the hose by releasing the comealong, I inserted a metal rod in that hole and began twisting, but no dice. From what little I can see from above, the hose is well wedged between the liner and the hull and maybe also between the deck and the hull. Going with the access port as you did looks like the best solution at this point.

[HeavyDinSC]

OK, success! Finally got the old fuel fill line out. I followed coverhill's advice and cut an inspection port right where he did. That allowed me to futz with the kink where the hose went from vertical to horizontal. I wedged it with a pipe, but that didn't work. I took a long stock of teak and tried to persuade (hammer) it forward to no avail. I did get a chance to assess the problem and it seems to have been too tight a space between the hull and the liner. So, I reattached the comealong (which was secured to a block wall, and using a 5/8 inch line and a timber hitch around the end of the hose in the coffin, I tried to budge it, but that force still didn't do it.  So I hooked up the car to the trailer and inched it forward, pulling against the come along. After tearing the hose twice at the timber hitch (and having to reattach), it pulled all the way out.
I had a messenger line attached to the old hose so I at least have something to use install the new hose, but it's going to take some Houdini magic to get that new one through that space.  
My takeaway from this ordeal is that the fuel fill hoses on these models weren't all installed in the same way. Mine had no foam around it, but it was definitely wedged tight between the hull and the liner right at the 90-degree. When the hose came apart, I could see that the reinforcing wire inside the hose was rusting, so it was definitely time to replace this baby.

[gman 82 aquasport]

My takeaway from this ordeal is that the fuel fill hoses on these models weren't all installed in the same way. Mine had no foam around it,

Depended on how the foam guy felt the day it was made My19-6 had foam halfway up the starboard side, port side barely to the floor level, nothing above that level up the liner wall on the port side must have loved foaming in the gas lines for giggles

[HeavyDinSC]

Must have been some foam in there, but I was able to circumvent that obstacle by cutting another inspection port inside the starboard side locker on the casting deck (I cut that in the aft end or the locker). That gave me enough access to snake the new hose down from the gunwhale and then inboard. I was able to snake enough of the hose into that cavity under the casting deck that I could then just tug on the messenger line and get the hose to bend around and eventually come out the hole into the coffin. Not sure if the images I'm including give a clear idea of this, but the thing that really helped make this work was having a tapered connection between the new hose and the messenger line.

[HeavyDinSC]

I'm attaching a couple of before and after images so you can see why I had to replace this tank. There was a tremendous amount of damp gunk and a lot of areas where the tank had corroded through on the top. It wasn't corroded anywhere else, so I'm inclined to think that electrolysis is the culprit. The wiring was pretty chaotic under the console. Interestingly, there was no corrosion under the stainless straps, not even where there was some foam protecting the corners of the tank.

[RickK]

Hi Heavy,
You should upload your pics to your gallery in the photo gallery and then link them into your post.  See the topic at the top of this forum (and every other forum) to see how to do this. You can upload them at full size and the gallery will resize them automatically. "Attaching" them leaves them too small to see anything.

[HeavyDinSC]

Rick,
Thanks man. I'm halfway there. I uploaded larger versions to my gallery, but now I'm trying to figure out how to link them to this section of the site. Seems like the comments that I input for each image have disappeared. Need to figure out that part too.

[Capt. Bob]

Photos are still (for these old eyes) too small.

Fit the new tank in to gauge what size padding I will need around it. Still trying to source the right material. I may use large diameter PVC like RickK, but in a slightly different application.


Your caption doesn't post with the pic. You need to type it first (in the post!) and then post the photo. In your photo above, I copied and pasted your photo caption (remember that doesn't transfer with the photo) from your Gallery to this post first, then went back and (copy/paste) added the pic underneath.

PS..... all this talk about copy and paste makes me think of Craig......
Please ignore that last comment.......

Good luck and upload larger size photos to your Gallery for us old guys with tired eyes.

[HeavyDinSC]

Thanks Capt. Bob,
I'll try uploading larger images shortly.

Haven't made a lot of progress recently, though I did get most of the deck (including coffin cover) sanded, taped and ready for gelcoat and new nonskid. Just a heads up here, but after spending about $15 bucks for a tiny can of nonskid spheres and roughly $20/each for two quarts of gelcoat (from Defender), I was at Lowes and noticed that they carry nonskid spheres ($5 for a slightly larger can). They also had quarts of gelcoat for $11. It's probably not the same quality gelcoat, but did seem like a good deal. (It was in a separate "Marine" section within the paint department. All this stuff appears to be within Rustoleum's marine line.)

Quick question for all you more experienced Aquasporters: If my aluminum fuel tank is strapped tightly down via stainless bands, do I really need to worry about padding fore and aft? (I've got about 2.5 inches of space in the coffin aft of the tank and maybe a 1/4 to 3/4 inch on the three other sides.)

Anybody got a "go to" supplier for reasonably priced trailer parts? I need lots of U-bolts and nuts and some other fittings, including cross members, leaf springs and a fender. Trying to stick with galvanized or SS for the bolts and nuts if possible.

Thanks in advance.

[seabob4]

Heavy, I have a reputable trailer builder just down the road from me, so I buy local.  But etrailer has some good pricing...http://www.etrailer.com/

[gran398]

[quote="HeavyDinSC"




Rustoleum makes a quality product, and Slowe's will pretty much take anything back if you're not happy. We all know how the word "marine" can add to the  price.

Regarding your tank. The straps will get the job done on up and down movement...but fore and aft, to be safe...you need chocks.

An easy, effective, and galvanic-safe method is to install small foam chocks in each corner. Take a quart or gallon size ziplock freezer bag, set it in place down the corners...and inject canned closed-cell foam. A little goes a long way....with your dimensions a good squirt per quart bag should be all you need.  Watch it finish expanding before you add more.

Once it sets up...cut off the excess bag and foam.

You want to minimize the chock footprint, small as possible to prevent crevice corrosion. 2" overhang per side on the corners is how we went. On the install, you can tape the  bag off on the sides to keep the foam expansion vertical, excess out the open top.

[HeavyDinSC]

Seabob, thanks for the lead on the trailer source. I'll check it out.
Gran, your solution for chocks sounds like an easy, sound way to go. Thanks. It's on my list. I'll post some pics when I take that step.

By the way, I found a pretty good product for fastening the console to the cockpit sole. Previously, it was simply screwed to the sole with 1/4 x 20 stainless panhead self-tapping screws. A local hardware store stocks stainless bolts with a broad, flat head, which makes using a washer unnecessary. I'm going to thread those through the holes in the console flange and into threaded inserts (the pronged type) that I'll have set into the sole using thickened epoxy. I'll get some shots of those bolts and inserts and post them as well.