Jumping in with Both Feet on a 20 Seafari - Page 6

SailorChlud · #51 02-26-2017, 07:36 PM

Today the bulkheads were installed. Seems to be getting closer to splashing all the time.

sisu22 · #52 02-27-2017, 08:53 AM

Nice work ,who was the glass guy you used ,I am in nj too and need someone

Dogbomb · #53 02-27-2017, 10:27 AM

Nice work! I like the white fiberglass finish. Very clean!

SailorChlud · #54 02-27-2017, 01:27 PM

Sisu:

I used a company called Fiberdex in Sayreville. He did the transom (to prime coat) the gas tank coffin deck repair, and a repair to my keel in the forward half.

PM me and I will give you his number.

I did the bottom paint, and cut the bulkheads, epoxied the back and sides, laminated the white fiberglass sheet exterior onto the plywood, then installed them. My gelcoat skills are average to below average, so that is why I had Fiberdex do the transom and hull.

SailorChlud · #55 03-08-2017, 07:51 PM

Next step - installing a hatch into the splashwell for better bilge access. Now I can service the bilge pump better (once installed there!) and install a fuel water separator into that space too.

Bushwacker · #56 03-08-2017, 10:34 PM

Looks good! That's about the same size as the home-made hatch I had. There is also room under there for your oil tank and the pump for the trim tabs as shown in the pics below. I built a shelf for the oil tank above the bilge pump. After he closed in the transom, Don cut out most of the splashwell and I made a hinged lid out of starboard that covers the whole thing. There is now even room for a couple of fenders on top of the oil tank.

SailorChlud · #57 03-09-2017, 10:29 AM

I am not sure if I will be able to open the hatch wide enough to fit the oil tank in there, after installing the hydraulic steering cyclinder and motor. We'll see. Definitely fuel separator, though. Do I see from your photo that you have a quick disconnect fitting on your fuel line for an auxiliary fuel tank?

Bushwacker · #58 03-09-2017, 12:54 PM

John,

I'd install the oil tank before you mount the motor! And you might consider installing it further forward, just aft of the fuel tank; the fuel tank support extends back maybe 4-5" aft of the tank, so you could just extend that a bit. I've been using PVC board lately for that sort of stuff . . . it's not real strong but easy to work with, and unlike starboard, you can glue it with PVC cement, and no worries about rot! If you mount oil tank with the fill opening on the aft side, so it's under the hatch, you might be able to fill it w/o using a funnel & hose!

The barbed fitting is actually on the outlet side of filter; it's real handy if I want to drain fuel out of the tank! (The boat is my reserve fuel supply for vehicles during hurricane season! In the past, power has been out for a week after a storm, and gas stations weren't able to pump gas. They are now required to have generators, but it's also handy to be able to drain a nearly empty tank and then refill it from 5 gal. jugs to re-calibrate gas gauge & I-Command fuel management gauge.) I have a long hose that's open on one end with an OMC fuel line connector and primer bulb on the other end. If I want to drain fuel, I just run the hose out thru the hull drain hole into a gas can, plug in the connector and squeeze the primer bulb to start the siphon.

I also have a 3-way selector valve (with red handle, at front of splashwell) upstream of the filter with one of those barbed fittings attached, so I can shut off fuel or draw from main tank or auxiliary tanks. For Bahamas runs, I had three 6 gal. OMC tanks rigged up in series that I would plug in to that fitting. On 2 of the tanks, I drilled out the rivet in the gas cap and replaced it with a brass barbed elbow fitting to which I attached a short length of hose with a plastic fuel connector on the other end. Those tanks have 2 pins near the fuel fitting; one pin opens a fuel valve and the other opens an air vent. For the first two tanks I drilled a hole in the plastic female connector where the air vent pin is, but left the connector to the last tank in line unmodified. Since only the last tank in line was vented, the resulting vacuum in the other tanks would pull fuel from the last tank in line until it was empty, and then from the next tank in line, etc. The system worked well and allowed me to run over two hours before switching to the main tank! Not sure I would use this system with the E-TEC because it was set up for my old 1975 vintage motor with 5/16 instead of the currently required 3/8" fuel lines. All the new "clean tech" motors are set up to run fairly lean, so they're much more sensitive to air leaks and fuel restriction. They might not tolerate potential air leaks and restrictions from all those connectors that an old carb'd 2-stroke wouldn't even blink at!

Regarding your Fuel Filter, instead of buying the Racor filter with the steel filter head that rusts, I'd recommend using what I switched to: Get a Sierra filter with SS filter head. Keep the filter canister for a spare, and then get a Racor B3201 assembly with includes S3213 Merc style filter element and plastic bowl, and install it on the SS Sierra filter head. The pics I posted show my old setup; I'll try to take a pic of new setup where I switched to the SS filter head, eliminated a bunch of restrictive 90 degree elbows and installed a Racor RK11-1676E vacuum gage with a tell-tale needle to monitor highest vacuum it's seen, which tells me when filter element needs changing, in addition to monitoring the overall level of fuel restriction between tank and engine. (BRP limit is 5" Hg.)

SailorChlud · #59 03-09-2017, 06:34 PM

Aha - Denny - that is a clever and convenient way to drain fuel from the tank! I like it.

As to your idea of the oil tank right aft of the fuel tank, my coffin deck ends within an inch or so of the fuel tank position - so no deck to extend at all. But I may be able to slip the oil tank into position from the starboard hatch area, so we'll see about that.

I have a Moeller separator assembly that is powder coated, so hopefully that inhibits corrosion over the plain steel model.

Check out my next post on my fuel tank measurements. - I included a photo of the mockup I did from the under splashwell area looking forward.

SailorChlud · #60 03-09-2017, 06:42 PM

So one of my challenges on this boat was that the fuel tank had been removed prior to my taking possession of the boat, and the dimensions were not available.

So, rather than ordering a tank based on measurements alone, I went ahead and made a mock-up of a tank out of 1x2's and old 1/4 inch plywood and scraps of panelling I had laying around.

Here is the shape of the tank, and the detail of the angles on the forward and aft ends.