1976 Seafari Fuel Tank Removal
 

Thanks to member Terry Strout I have the drawings for a new 48 gallon aluminum fuel tank. Today I am removing a 1988 25 gal. Tempo aluminum tank and fighting the old foam. It will NOT win!!!

Once removed, I am going to move her into my garage/boathouse for protection. I have seriously cleaned and rinsed bilge of removed I/O but I want to clean it better before bringing inside. Can I start flushing, with boat on a serious slope, from Hawes Pipe of anchor locker, (extreme nose of bow), clear through to the drain plug at bottom of the transom? With diluted bleach?

TIA, Part II

Blast the foam out with a pressure washer.

I cut it out with a sawzall. Then lifted it out with a 300 series track hoe. No problems, came right out...LOL!

sawsall, long blade,then rip it out...carefull, no sparks !!

I used a hand saw along the sides, put rope between the mount lugs and used an A-frame and pulley to pull it up from one end first. A 4x4 across the gunnels would have worked fine too. It was much easier than I expected. I did tape over the hose connections to avoid fireworks since it still had a couple of gallons in it. :D

Well what appeared to be a simple job kicked my butt. The 1988 (Open?) celled foam was simple to remove with a narrow trenching shovel, and was Framming saturated in fuel. No real surprise, I guess. After removing approx. 50 pounds of foam I was able to bust tank loose from remaining foam below the tank and thought I was done. Only a few gallons left in tank and it was loose.

Now the difficulties. Aft, I still have the inch and a half strip of deck across the top of the tank, which secures the hinges to the old dog box. Here I have almost a half inch of clearance between top of tank and bottom of deck. The real problem is the tank was not custom built. I ass-u-me the PO ordered this tank and when it arrived some COBB Artistry was required.

First, the tank was not flush on fore and aft ends. Then it was not long enough to be mounted close to the forward bulkhead, AND simultaneously rest on glassed in cross member of engine forward mounts. SO, they glassed in another 2 X 6 just forward of factory cross member, in hopes of supporting the aft end of the tank. Working alone, all foam removed, the tank is 3/8" too long!!!

Now, rather than cut the new forward cross member back a half inch to drop tank in aft, elevate rear end of tank up, slide it aft onto the newly added 2 X 6 shelf, and drop the forward end in, they cut the width of the tank out of the deck floor at the forward bulkhead!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now it is PINCHED in place! After wrestling with this for 45 minutes, I realized I was sweating so badly (day before's BEER!) I was feeling the monkey on my back! Then I started wrenching from my gut the flavor of 8 year old fuel! Climbed out, showered and hit the sofa under air vent and ceiling fan!

A freaking 28 gallon tank! Guess I'm getting old!

Lessons learned? 79 MA has a beautifully finished gel coat fuel tank coffin box. Seafari does not. MA has Potter Putty still waiting to be removed, making me believe the tank removed may have still been the original. Under these circumstances, you cannot achieve enough positive ventilation.

In conclusion, Seafari is moving out to the center of my yard, uncovered, full sun, afternoon storms, away from all trees, and trailer tongue JACKED!!!!!!!!! Headed up to the country to help a tortured brother remove a Pontiac 400 and 400 tranny out of his 71 LeMans. Oh yeah, and reinstall entire rear end, drum brakes, fuel tank, etc.. Let the games begin!

Seafari Fuel Tank
 

Vezo- Sorry you have having so much trouble with removing it. As I may have mentioned at Long Point, it was not difficult to remove my tank from my 20' Seafari (it is the original, as I am the original owner). I drained out all the fuel I could. As for the foam, mine was only between the tank and the stringers, nothing "glueing" it to the bottom of the tank. I was leary of sparks, so think I basically made some chiesels from wood and chipped, pried & vacuumed out the foam. Although I was able to briefly lift the tank by myself, I got a friend to help lift it out of the hole. I believe the hole was shorter than the tank, so the tank had to be tipped to get it out. That's about it for removal.

As a college kid, my dad told me at midnight when I was attempting to get the distributor back & properly aligned into my small block Chevy after numerous tries, "Things will go much smoother in the morning when you are rested!" Yup, in the morning it went in on the first try- and we wonder why the old-man was so smart! (Later did I learn the secret to making it work the first time, every time.)

Yes Sir, Capt.. I remember and respect that lesson. I guess I'm killing myself here because I don't have a clear goal in mind for this project. Kind of frustrating. I do not want to own an I/O at this point, but this hull lends itself to this application. Transom needs replacement, but I really like BigShrimpings live well and enclosed transom. I like the idea of a Hermco bracket, but if Denny can't find a solution to his Etec's inability to turn lock to lock, that concerns me. Not sure if you witnessed us trying to back into his slip in Sebastian. I was on the bow with a boat hook and feeling helpless as he fought that wind. Here, I have an 8 foot tide swing every 6 hours...

I'm keeping the 20 MA for retirement to Hernando Beach in 2.5 years. But I really like the Seafari and would like to think I will be dive certified and enjoy spear fishing at that time. I have that amount of time here in South Cackalacki, and the resources, to finish this project, as well as my Boston Whaler 15 Sport. I need a solid plan for the Seafari. Or clean it up and pass it on.

Anyhow, tank is pitched and pinched until I have a volunteer to work aft end of tank with me. I know better than to cut out floor where dog box sits.

Great phone call from FlexPat with cool suggestions and alternatives. Damn cool site!!!

Well got her uncovered, jacked in center of yard and rinsed the 5#!+ out of her! Fuel film continuously. OH! And I guess the DUMBEST questions are left unanswered!.! Do NOT free flow garden hose inside anchor locker opening on fore deck with anticipation of it making it clear back to the drain plug on a 1976 SC Seafari!!!

Attempting to post two pics without a host...

Vezo

This is the definition of "Pitched and Pinched"!!!

Seafari Fuel Tank Removal
 

After seeing the photo, I remember you asking me how close the stringers were to the side of the tank? Think mine was about 1.5" on each side, therefore your tank is narrower, but longer. Yea I'd hate to do it either, but cutting the glass is easier and safer than cutting the aluminum. If it were mine I'd examine cutting carefully forward and then vertically downward to a horizontal cut near the cabin stepdown. That would be the easiest to repair and less obtrusive than at the aft end. If you slide the tank aft you should have clearance to use a scroll saw (called a sabre saw when I was a kid) to cut without hitting the tank. BTW noticed your fuel sender was at the forward end; wonder how quickly the gage read empty? Mine was towards the aft end.

Another anecdote from an "old man" (now me), sometimes best to think about it awhile- sometimes the best idea comes later! I spent months figuring out how to put a PerfectPass speed control under the hood of an ETEC. Good luck Michael

Nope! Never cut finished glass! Cut metal like a hot blade thru butter! I will get this BS done... ;-D

Ok, tank is out. Had to use a Saws-All and a short bimetal blade. Of course I went through all the trouble of backing up to garage, under deck and using large wall mounted fan from rear of garage. Attempted to cut lower aft bead of tank weld (about a half inch of relief is all I really needed), was going quick until she started pouring that old crap into the clean bilge. Broke down entire operation, back out in the yard for rain and sun exposure. Today finished the cut all the way across, and out she came!

Terry, is your Seafari an outboard? Appears to me your replacement is 60 inches long, which is longer than this 25 gallon. I'm thinking I need to cut the floor out where dog house hinges were located, removing the glassed cross members where the inboard engine mounts were, and extending tank full length. I have a transome rebuild waiting and want to do it from the inside, cutting in a 25" transom height, leaving seats, and glassing in a new splash well. This boat came missing ONE thing: the fuel hatch! So just make it longer.?.

Vezo, glad to hear you got the tank out! I think I would have cut off the lip at front of opening that that the hatch rests on, as that could be easily glassed back on. On the ~34 gal OEM tank on my '72 (which I'm still using; they were wise enough to not put ANY foam around it in '72!), about 3' of the bottom sloped up at the front so it would clear the front edge of the hatch, and the aft 3' or so of the top was sloped down, probably so the aft part of the tank would clear the aft edge of the hatch. I've had my tank out a couple of times, and it's about a 5 minute job, once everything is disconnected!

The '76 models had a smaller step down and a longer 50 gallon tank, and I'm sure the sketches Terry provided probably show a similar taper on the top and bottom of the tank. Besides removing the added cross members that get in the way of the tank, have you considered going with 2 smaller tanks, which could probably made larger, w/o the tapered top and bottom, and still fit easily through the hatch? Two tanks would allow you to adjust the CG a bit, and might allow you to leave one tank empty most of the time for short trips.

Regarding the limited steering travel on the modern SeaStar system, I was amazed to learn that it was designed that way on purpose, per NAEBM specs! Evidently there are so many liability lawyers running around loose that NAEBM is terrified that some idiot will put the helm hard over at WOT, flip the boat, and then sue them because of his own stupidity! (Never mind that the typical cable system will do that all by itself if you just let go of the wheel!) I believe it's possible to get almost full travel by just mixing and matching old and new parts, because I've seen older SeaStar systems that provide much more travel. Hope to work with Don Herman to resolve that issue in the next couple of months.

How are you Denny? After speaking to FlexPat, who gave up his room for me at Sebastian, I have decided to go traditional transom at 25" and a 5 in 1 manual jack plate that I am familiar with on my previous Whaler 15 Sport. Also, after the ride with you I am no longer a four stroke guy. However, I am into torque and will be shopping an Etec 175 when the time comes.

As for the MA, I am busting my Azz to get ready for the trip to Homosassa. I think I can pull it off. Fired the 99 OMC 175 three weeks ago. She is starving for fresh air! And should have my OMC mechanic on board for MacRae's. Looking forward to getting back.

Thanks

Michael

Hope to see you at MacRae's . . . looks like a neat spot! I agree, it's hard to beat the DI 2-strokes for torque, and they're basically very simple engines with a lot fewer moving parts! I've been very impressed with what BRP has done to make 'em quiet, with excellent quality, economy, low maintenance and sophisticated electronics! And I think you'll be better balanced with the motor hanging on the transom! That should be a nice rig when finished!

This looks similar to my conversion from I/O to outboard vision. I reached out to a member who did a one off engine cowl similar to a Sea Vee, but he did not have a mold. If I were very careful removing glass integrated portions of the original Dog Box, would anyone be interested in building a mold for reproduction. This one is really in great shape?!? Maybe Hermco?

Vezo, Part II

I guess it's time I learn to correctly size my pics.... Apologies.

Seafari 20' Fuel Tank
 

Michael, glad you successfully removed the fuel tank and survived cutting it. Now you'll have another discussion topic for the fall gathering. My 1976 Seafari 20' is an outboard (from birth). The 1976 SeaCraft brochure shows the Seafari had a 47 gallon tank in the outboard version and 38 gallon in the I/O version. As for your ride on Denny's ETEC powered Seafari, yes they are torquey, particularly in the lower rpm range. There was a BRP video which showed identical boats in like a tractor-pulling contest; the only difference was ETEC vs Merc and ETEC vs Yamaha. The ETEC won hands down. This low end torque was actually a problem initially for me holding a constant wakeboard speed until I overcame it with a High Five prop and a PerfectPass speed control. I have been happy with my ETEC once I overcame this issue- the ETEC is quick starting, quiet, and thrifty on fuel.