fuel tank
 

anyone know agood place for fuel tanks in boston area. i bought a 73cc io i replaced the engine (it had a merc 470) WITH A 350 mag mpi and the gas tank looks small plenty of room for abigger tank.how can tell if itsoriginal tank

Re: fuel tank
 

I used Eric Kent, of KentFab for the tanks in my 23' Sceptre. Eric does great work and he's a good guy to work with. I believe his shop is in the Hanover/Rockland area, and phone is 781-659-3355.

Re: fuel tank
 

thanks does anyone know if this is the factory tank its tag has aaa fabricators hialeah florida.I WANT to be able to go offshore how many gallon tanks would work best.

Re: fuel tank
 

I've got an '85 Scepter 23' and she has 144 gal. I'd like to split in two, say 50 gal aft and 70-80 forward; both of them on the center line. The reason is that I have always stored full over the winter and 140 gals is close to 1000 lb. That is more than we generally need most trips. I figured keeping the aft tank empty most of the time would cut down on the weight I'd be needlessly pushing around most of the time and move what gas weight I do carry forward to offset some of the weight of the I/O.

Re: fuel tank
 

Big Lew,
That is exactly what I did with my boat, a '78 23' Sceptre I/O, though I've got
approx. 65 gal usable in the aft tank and 45 usable in the forward.
Would love to have more capacity (or just better range).

Re: fuel tank
 

Hey Chris,

I seem to remember you've got a a big block I/O. This may sound real strange, but since fuel gauges don't work in boats and I haven't installed my Floscan, I really don't know what my burn rate is. I figure, overall, I'm burning about 5 to 8 gallons/hr depending on what I'm doing. I run in and out of the Merrimack up here in Newburyport. That said, even at 10 gallons per hour that is 14 hours were running time or about 300 miles. Needless to say, most trips are less than 300 miles. I'm running the Volvo Penta 260. It uses a 350 CID with a four barrel Holley.(I think it's a holley.) Either way, I'm gonna put a new engine in anyway.

My thought on the aft tank being empty is that, when you need it, drain it first and then switch to the forward tank. I would probably keep a CO2 fire extinguisher on board and when the tank was empty I would fit shoot some CO2 into the fill pipe to push out all the oxygen. Just a safety measure.

I'd love to speak with you Chris. That is one fine boat you have; I have admired its pictures many times. If you're up for it, send me a PM with a phone number and a convenient time and I'll give you a call this week.

Until then, take care and be well.

Re: fuel tank
 

how do you set up dual tanks. im taking mine out to check it.but i want more capacity. looking for best options. :D

Re: fuel tank
 

I'm also about to pull the tank out of my new to me '75 Sceptre to check it, clean it, measure it, hopefully not replace it....... I think it's original, but looks real good on top, we'll see. Any advice on how to check it, and how to clean it?

Steve

Re: fuel tank
 

After cleaning and rinsing the main way to check a tank (besides visual) is to have it pressure checked to see if there are any leaks that you don't see.

You can do this yourself however you must be very careful on old tanks. Most radiator shops can do the pressure test.

Any good de-greaser should cut the crud.

Re: fuel tank
 

Hi Wags,

My friend Karl is helping me build two new tanks for my Savage. If you'd like we can build one for you at the same time (maybe save us both a little money by sharing stock).
We'd have to check out your boat to see what we can do first though. We live on the South Shore (Rockland and Scituate).

Send me a PM with your phone number so we can set up a time.

Cheers,
Bob

Re: fuel tank
 

homemade pressure test with some tygon tubing and water with red food coloring, I know the hose cramped, but the tank already failed the test
http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/d...7/DSCF0764.jpg

the right hand tube has a small black mark where i measured the pressure head at the start of the test, within an hour it was back to even = leaking tank. maybe i need to join the tank building party...?
http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/d...7/DSCF0765.jpg

Re: fuel tank
 

Why don't you rig the tank with a low pressure guage and test it like plumbers check a house after the plumbing is complete. I just wonder how you determine if it leaks with duct tape and bent over hoses, seems to me they would leak. Just my thinking out loud at this point.
I also have an orginial 115 gal tank in my 1989 23WA that is probably close to needing replacing, but that would be a summer project. :D

My friend has a 350 V-8 w/4 barrel carb and he has had it for years and says no matter what he does, it gets 2 miles per gallon.

Re: fuel tank
 

Personally I would put a lower unit pressure pump on there, pump up to about 3 or 4 lbs, check the bleed down, but everything needs to be capped, or at least with hoses,plugs and hose clamps. I'm not so sure about the way it is done in the pictures, I would double check, save yourself some $$$$.

Re: fuel tank
 

To someone's question about how do you set up valves to draw from two tanks, here's how I did mine. First, for all my hose I used Parker blue with reusable flare fittings. On each tank, I have a shut-off and an anti-siphon valve. Both tanks feed to a Racor 660-02 (I think that's the model # anyway), which has two inlet and two outlet ports on the filter head. I have shut-off valves on the filter head on each outlet port and this is how I control which tank (or both simultaneously) I draw from. There is a secondary Racor (3220?) on the filter head on the engine. So far, no fuel related problems.

Big Lew, just sent you a pm. Please anyone feel free to ask questions. I also believe I still have the drawings and measurements from my tanks. Also, you can see some of what I described above in the gallery section - should be a couple pictures of my (dirty) engine compartment.

Re: fuel tank
 

chris, thanks for the help. I want to get this done right.I was trying to budget enough for a few more projects,outriggers, sodablasting,gauges, thru hull transducer leaningpost $$$$$