Yet more gas tank questions......

[Spectre5922]

I haven't seen these questions yet.
Can a fuel level sender be added to a stock 19-6 tank without a huge expense? I would prefer a fuel gauge over looking under a pie plate. If so, is there anything that I need to know to start looking for a sender (size, etc)?
If the sender deal won't work, is there a place that I can get a stock fuel gauge for my tank? I would rather have a new one. When the new floor goes in, I will be eliminating the coffin and will have a solid floor.
After cleaning my tank up, there really is no exterior corrosion. I am taking it to a local radiator shop to have it pressure tested in the next few days. If it all comes out okay, it would save a LOT of money keeping the stock tank. I am seeing new ones go for anywhere from around $450+.  I am at the point now where I'm going to start bleeding money (tank, floor, gauges, etc.) and would like to save everywhere that I can without just cheaping out or doing something half-a$$. I don't want anyone in the future to be able to post up a "stupid PO" post on anything that I've done to her.

As always, any advice/ideas are greatly appreciated.

Thanks guys.....

[Woodinator]

Spec,

Pretty sure you'll have no trouble retrofitting a sender to the original tank, especially with the floor removed. Pretty sure I've even seen a thread or two about that during my AS forum "travels.  Sender height should be about 1/2" less than the depth of your tank.  If you can swallow the extra $$, go with one of the better sliding float senders rather than the cheaper ones with the articulating arm w/float on the end.  My only recommendation is that you do NOT glass over the reinstalled tank and that you DO make sure you still have an access hatch.  If you do one thing wrong when installing the new floor and moisture finds a way to the tank you'll never be able to service without completely tearing up the floor again.  I dealt with this exact problem with my last boat, an 18 wellcraft CC, where the "stupid PO" rebuilt it with a new floor which prevented any access to the tank except for two pie plates over the fill and the sender.  Ended up GIVING away the boat once I realized how much $ would be required to replace with a new tank and floor.  Just wish I would've had the time, equipment, space, and money to turn it into a project hull...those 18 Wellcraft hulls are GREAT!

[seabob4]

Ryan,
The old 18 Fish!  Excellent boats!  Used to run 35 miles, sometimes 40, straight out in the gulf.  Never let us down!

Spec, I take you have a mechanical gauge on top of the sender.  You should be able to swap that sender out for a swing-arm type by Moeller, or a shaft/float type by WEMA.  They both wire to a dash mounted fuel gauge the same way...

[Spectre5922]

I just pulled the old gauge (which won't work). It hangs up when empty. That was the good news. The bad news is that when I pulled the gauge I found that the area under the flange is NOT in good shape. Now I have to decide whether to try to have that area repaired or just bite the bullet and replace the tank. If I replace the tank I will have to hold off on the floor for a little while longer. I DID find a marine salvage in north Houston that has used tanks for $150. I would have to check them out real good first to make sure that I'm not buying the same problem that I already have. Also, is there anything that you guys can think of when I look at used poly tanks? This place has quite a few of them used.

 Also, how do you convert cubic feet to gallons?  I want to get the biggest tank that I can fit in the coffin.

[Woodinator]

How bad is "not good?"... usually the area under the flange at the top of the sending unit develops some corrosion just because of the stainless mounting screws.  If there is enough good metal left to screw down the new sender, and a new rubberized gasket would still make a tight seal without leaking fuel around the edge of the seal, then you can probably clean it up and re-use it. Got pics?

Multiply cubic feet by 7.48 to get gallons.

Also, and with all due respect  :) , if a $400 tank replacement means no floor, then you might not be ready for the floor replacement anyway.  The amount of $$ some of the guys have spent on floor replacement is astounding!  I still think you should inject it and run it for a few years to see if you even like it or if it does what you want it to before tackling such a project, but that's just my opinion.

SB4 - yeah...loved that hull... as far as I know it was the widest production 18 made in its generation.  Had more space than many 20s and was the most stable platform imaginable.  My buddy's 19 outrage rocks like crazy compared to the WC.

[fitz73222]

Hey Spectre5922,

The fuel sender you seek is called a Reed Style sending unit. It will be a direct replacement to your original direct reading gage. Measure the depth of your tank and subtract 1/2-1" for the sender depth you need. Moelluer(check spelling) makes a nice replacement unit that I used in my 73' 22-2. Double check the hole pattern when you install it. One of the screw holes is not symetrical to the others so you may have to rotate the sender until all the screw holes line up.

Good idea on the fuel tank hatch, stick with it. The fuels of the future are not going to be friendly to aluminum fuel tanks so access is critical.

Multiply cubic feet X 7.48052 to convert to liquid gallons

[Spectre5922]

I'm still going to have the radiator shop check it out before I totally scrap the idea. I will get some pics when i get back to work from lunch. The tank is in the bed of my truck. Also, let me clarify what I mean by floor.... I am going to temporarily do the foam injection like you guys said, then lay a new floor over it and glass it in. With the materials that my buddy is donating, the floor will cost me around $125 and will be SUPER solid for now. I will foam fill it first before I lay anything over it. If it feels solid enough, then I will run it like that for a short time. If it doesn't, I will go ahead and lay the ply for a season or two.

[flounderpounder225]

The flange for the sender can be easily fixed with JB Weld, just clean it real good, use the JB like body filler and skim it over the bad areas, let cure and sand it down.  That is plenty of support for a sending unit.  If the threaded holes are shot, there are inserts called Rivnuts, or nutserts that can be inserted to receive the screws for the sender.

[Spectre5922]

I just got back from the radiator shop. After scraping some of the old coating off that the PO had painted the tank with, we found several pin holes. The tank is now leaking and is junk, so I'll be looking.for a replacement.
As I mentioned earlier, there is a marine salvage yard in town that is advertising used poly tanks for $150. I'm going to go look at some possibly later this week. Is there anything that I should be looking for in particular with a poly tank? If worst comes to worst, I'll save a few more pennies and buy a new one, but I'd like to try to get a used one if possible and save $300+.
What are the problem areas of a poly tank that I should watch out for?

[MarshMarlowe196]

Doesn't seem to be any real problem with poly tanks, most boat builders are using poly tanks now because they don't have the corrosion issues that aluminum tanks have.  I'd say the only real problem you'd run into is finding one that would fit like you want it to that's already being made.  The pricing of new OEM poly tanks is about the same as custom aluminum tanks, but a custom poly tank would be more expensive.

This one looks like it may fit:
http://www.moellermarine.com/sites/moel ... 282%29.pdf

This is kind of a moot point now since you found out your old tank was no good, but when I changed my sending unit out on my tank, I had a new aluminum "ring" fabbed out of 1/4" scrap and welded on top of the mounting location for the old sending unit. Then I tapped some threads into this piece at the fastener locations of the new sending unit. This was much easier to tap into than the comparably thin gauge aluminum of the tank.  That might be helpful to know if you find a used tank that would fit  

[seabob4]

Just some observations, roto-molded polyethylene tanks rarely see any issues.  The ones that I have seen involve the metallic parts attached to them, i.e. senders and pickups.

To be honest with you?  If I was building a boat and wanted a 500 gal. fuel tank, I'd go with poly.  Have them increase the wall thickness to 3/8".  I'd never have any problems with that tank...

[gran398]

I'm in agreement. Aluminum has been the status quo....and only because it is just that...what "everyone goes with."

The new RDS aluminum tank is here and ready...but if were to do it again...would take a good hard look at the roto 3/8ths poly.

Poly tanks are what a local builder installs beneath closed decks in his boats...and what he recommends.

Fitz makes a relevant observation...with ethanol issues becoming mainstream... and even with the best, most correct  install...aluminum could rot from the inside with the higher concentrations of ethanol/additives in the future. Not the outside deterioration we're accustomed to.

And the crosstalk issue...galvanic corrosion from dissimilar metals/treated wood, rubber chemical leech, etc., etc...becomes a moot point with poly.

[Spectre5922]

After a LOT of thought I have decided that I will not take the chance on buying a used tank and I cannot find a poly tank that fits the dimensions that I want.  All of the poly tanks that I am seeing are either too wide or too tall.  I am having a tank custom fabricated the same size as the one that I have now.  The guy is local (Pasadena).  He spent a lot of time talking to me yesterday about options and what needs to be built.  He made me feel very comfortable about the decision.  Now I am having a tank built out of 5051 aluminum with the same dimensions, 2 baffles and a sender so I can run a fuel gauge instead of the direct read.  I will probably have him start on it either this week or next and will post up a review after I get it.  He is very reasonable and would make a great contact for any of you guys in the Houston area. I am going to post up a seperate thread with his contact information so the local guys that aren't following this thread can find it.

[Spectre5922]

Hey MarshMarlowe,

I just noticed your avatar.  I didn't realize that was you.  I've watched that video a million times on YouTube!  

[MarshMarlowe196]

.Really? Strange because that video only has about 1500 views ...  
 

I was being a little reckless in that clip, but I thought it was cool how skinny these boats can run. Glad you enjoyed it