Contractor to build fuel tanks

[strick]

Greg-

Have you tried any of the local welders in your area? A while back I had a welder within 1/2 mile from were I live do one for my 23 SeaCraft. I brought the old tank down and he copied it. I would think there should be some certified welders in your area qualified to do fuel tanks.

strick

[glow]

Strick,

Due to being in the middle of the Pacific Ocean shipping adds a ton of overhead to materials. The top fab shop here wants $3100/pair for aluminum and $3600 for stainless. I am a sheet metal apprentice and aluminum stock will run me $1342 and stainless $1162 if I layout and bend myself plus what I owe my welder. Alumiwork has quoted me $2200/pair for 5052 1/8" stock shipped FedEx Ground. A shop in Costa Mesa who specializes in marine tanks quoted me roughly $450/ea. per tank with 1/8" aluminum plus shipping. What's your take on aluminum vs. stainless? My understanding is the weld on aluminum is less prone to deterioration than that on stainless. Let me know what you think. Aloha, Greg

[Happi1fla]

Greg, sounds like you have done some research, not sure if this helps,
. Found a builder through the Maintenance Shop of a small airplane training school they had twenty planes or more that replace aircraft grade aluminum tanks from time to time, my friend was a mechanic their and helped ,he’s moved back home to California but may have an idea, If you can’t find an outlet , Also not sure of your proximity to the floor/deck ( with tank installed) but you may have to keep the fill tube like the original in height so it doesn’t raise into the floor/deck. This happened to me. The builders cut a square out of the old tanks fill tubes and welded back into the new one. Good Luck with this.

John

[glow]

John,

Thanks for the comeback. The tanks are corroded on the bottom side corner and lower side wall. Each tank is pitted right through and crumbles to dust when I touch or brush my finger over the corroded area(s) . The builder put the tank flat in a coffin box with 2 part foam. Saltwater got into the area and it was sealed so air flow was severely restricted if at all. Funny how that works because if it was sealed then the water wouldn't have gotten in to begin with [img]/forum/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]. The tanks have to be built to the same spec as I don't want to modify the floor line. Let me know what your friend comes up with re: finding a tank builder on the West Coast. Thanks, Greg

[Rich]

Here's one I found on the left coast:

http://www.americantanks.net/overview.htm

Another thing you can try is calling this place and asking if he knows of anyone on the west coast. They are pretty friendly.

http://www.lutherswelding.com/marine_tank_builders.html

[glow]

Rich,

Thanks for the help. I found a telephone contact for American Tanks and was planning on calling them. You had more info than what I got and it helped. Unfortunately the toll free # didn't work from Hawaii guess we're to far. I called them and emailed with the address that was on the link you provided. Thanks a ton , Greg

[kerneltugboat]

Greg,

Search for the post, "Find Source for Fuel tank" you will find a lot of info, including my post. I had two tanks made from 3/16, both 75 gallons and they were angled to match the hull. They cost me arbout 1700.00 to my door (200.00) shipping for both. If you have a DHL account, and you have them shipped DHL you should be able to save a lot over UPS. www.speedytanks.com, ask for John. Your rectangular 58.0 gallon tanks shoud be cheaper.


PS, Pics are coming soon, I had to go back to work !!!

Good Luck,

Dan

[glow]

Thanks Dan and lots of sunny aloha from Hawaii ! Take it easy and thanks for the info. Greg