Chris Craft 25ft fuel tank removal - update

S

Stephen

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My '78 galvanized fuel tank needs to come out. Without worrying about the replacement at the moment, I want to come up with a way to remove the old one without cutting the floor. I know a couple of you have the same boat plus or minus a year or two and I have to imagine the layout is the same. That is, a 50gal cylindrical tank dropped a couple of inches into stringer cutouts. My question is, did anyone else remove this without cutting the floor?

I was thinking of cutting it in half (or thirds) with a rotary tool after flushing it clean with water a couple of times. By doing this I believe I can slide one side out of the way and rotate the other side into the center of the boat and then swing it out. At least this is one idea. Anyone else have an idea?
 
My 78 Pacemaker had same tanks.
I was told to cut the transom and slip them out back and re-glass.

I voted to remove both engines and there was enough room( just enough) to remove thru hatch.

Ended up doing some freshening up of engines and bilge.

Tom
 
You're gonna have to show us some pics and/or diagrams so we can see what problems you face and what solutions we can come up with.
 
I don't believe you could flush it enough to allow you to safely cut the tank up. There's a reason why it's routine to cut the fiberglass. Besides, how are you going to get the new tank in place in one piece that way?
 
Greg, I've seen a couple guys install 2 or 3 smaller plastic tanks in place of the old one piece.
 
I was thinking about replacing it with a rectangular poly or aluminum tank. I saw a poly one with 35 gal and the aluminum one can be any size since you pretty much have to order them. I don't care if it's the same shape or exactly 50 gal. I'm going down again tomorrow and will take very careful measurements all around. I already have some good pics - I just have to figure where to put them so you can see them. I also have to conirm it is really leaking. The shrink wrap had covered the fuel vent, so I might wrong about the leak. But at such an age, I'd be lucky.
 
Well I paid a visit to the boat today and the verdict is that the tank is leaking and needs to be replaced. So I have three options; cut the tank, cut the floor, or leave the old tank in and add a second. Neither of the last two are desirable. Still, I will reach out to a couple of sources for estimates to cut the floor. My biggest concern is at 38 years old, cutting the floor will lead into one thing after another. If someone can post their favorite picture site, I'll join it and post some pics. If someone can recommend a vendor in NJ near the Delaware Bay (Maurice River area), recommend away!
 
The update is that the old tank was removed today. The mechanic I hired was able to cut the tank out without cutting the floor. I had prepped it on Saturday after he inspected it by siphoning out the remaining fuel and filled it with water. He cut it out just as I envisioned doing it - by using a cutoff wheel and saws-all. The best thing is that he did it and I didn't. The marina knew he was there and he has insurance - I made sure of that first. Everything was safe, ventilated, and fire supression was handy in case of an accident.

He cut a "door" in the middle so he could reach the back of the tank and he told me it was easier than I thought it would be. We discussed the size of the new tank and I plan on dry fitting a mock-up made of cardboard this weekend. The old tank was 50 gal and the new one will be somewhere between 43-58 gal based on what fits. I will also be cleaning under it and repacking the rudder box while it's convenient.
 
Nice! Any time there isn't hull structure compromised is wonderful!
 
50 Gallons? What kind of range to you have with this tank. Would it be possible to plumb two smaller tanks together to provide more capacity? I don't know what you burn an hour but 50 gallons seems a bit small to me.
Best of luck with the project I hope it works out at least as good as planned!
 
Well, the old tank was 50gal. I also have to keep in mind that this boat has no keel and I never plan on going too far out of the bay. I do want to cross the bay and get into the C&D canal because, well just because it's there. But besides that, more than 50 would never be used and that extra weight would probably cause the stern to dig. Of course if I had twin engines, 50 would not be adequate.

As of the last conversation wih the mechanic, the estimated size will be 52 gal. At 8-10gph at a speed of 20-25mph, I can still travel 35 miles on a third of a tank in a straight line (if I follow the safety rule of thirds). I can safely say I've never driven this boat that far in one trip in 15 years.

I bet the new tank will look purdy too! I'll let my kids draw a face on it.
 
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