Gas tank questions

[drewmitch44]

tomorrow morning im going to start removing the floor in the bow of my boat. I know there is a gas tank in there. If im able to get it oug without hurting it too bad how do i know if i can re-use it? I also would like to know how to measure how manny gallons it is. Im going to be removing the floor with the cap still on. As you can see ive opened the bow also. Now its time to pull the floor and see whats going on down there. I used 2 6 gallon portable tanks all this year and thats not a lot of gas for a 115 hp motor. So if i can re-use this tank id like to do so. Thanks guys.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: Gas tank questions

the tank should have a plate on it. depends on what the tank is made of. just be careful taking it out, should have straps on it.

 

[maxum247]

Re: Gas tank questions

If it's aluminum you probably stand a good chance of saving it. But I guess it depends on wether the tank set empty or with gas in it and the grade of aluminum that it's built from. All I can say is that mine is going strong and my boat was new in 89! I would check it real close for leaks, get it pressure tested if you can! The gas in my tank was a dozen years old I guess that helped to coat the tank over the years and protect it some. After getting the gas out of the tank it took time to get the junk that the old gas left behind out, but after awhile the tank came pretty clean.

 

[Fish n Geer]

Re: Gas tank questions

Maxum how did you get the old junk or residue out? If you dont mind me asking?

 

[drewmitch44]

Re: Gas tank questions

yea please share that. Ive heard of people pouring BB's in there and shaking the hell out of the tank. What kind of cleaners are recomended for this?

 

[Zetman]

Re: Gas tank questions

I also would like to know how to measure how many gallons it is.

length x width x height divided by 231 = volume/gallons last time I did this it worked for me

 

[Bondo]

Re: Gas tank questions

Ayuh,........

1 Cubic Foot equals 7.5 Gallons,.......

Just do the math...........

 

[drewmitch44]

Re: Gas tank questions

Man i went looking in the floor today and looking for the gas tank and i ended up tearing up the whole floor. Shoveling wet foam and what not. The stringers are solid it looks like someone did them not too long ago but the foam is soaked! Time to rethink things and start over!

 

[maxum247]

Re: Gas tank questions

Once empty and air dryed, I put enough water in to cover the bottom of the tank. For a couple weeks, each day I would root around in the tank with the end of a garden hose (not running) the hose end allowed me to feel where the hard spots were in the tank. Did this until satisfied I had gotten everything loose. This took awhile! Cranked the bow up. Used about 10ft of clear hose and drained the water thru a rag to catch the junk and let the water run into a trash can. Rinsed and drained the tank. Let the tank air dry, installed a gas filter in the gas line and a screen on the pick up so far I haven't had any problems.
I used breathing protection, and gloves when removing the old gas and cleaning the tank! Still smells pretty strong even though it's old.

 

[drewmitch44]

Re: Gas tank questions

well i have more problems now becides the tank. I pulled about 300 pounds of foam out of my boat today. There was some rot up under the bow but the rest of the stringers were perfect. I think someone redid them at some point and did not do the ones that extended under the closed bow. The difference was like day and night. Im going to keep pulling up the floor though even though the back of the boat is pretty dry. I hate pulling up so much dry foam though. I might re-use it not sure. Ill start that in another thread when i get some pics of what i got now. but at least ill get the boat so light that ill be able to flip it to paint the bottom easire now. I didnt plan on doing "the whole shabang"! But at least ill know its done. I now got to find places to get fiberglass supplies! Any advice. Last boat i did i used the bondo stuff from wal-mart. I dont want to do that again i didnt like that stuff. Maybee it was me but i didnt get good results with that resin and glass.