Replacing a Fuel Tank on a Tartan TOCK

[rhhmadry]

Looking for an expert or two.

[roverhi]

Good luck in finding an expert. There weren't that many of the TOCK's built and finding someone who's changed a tank in one is even less likely.

Where is the tank located, what furniture, sole, engine, etc have to be removed to get at the tanks?? Are you going to be able to remove these impediments without destroying them?? If you have to destroy stuff to get the tank out, what's it going to cost to reconstruct these pieces?? What is holding the tanks in place and will it work with the new tank?? Last but not least, will you have to have a custom tank built or can you buy an off the shelf plastic/metal tank. If an off the shelf tank will fit the space available, will the fill tube, fuel line out, vent line, and guage location, if one is needed, work out for you. These are the questions you or your contractor are going to have to answer. You can probably come up with a pretty good estimate of your own if you do some basic background work.

I just had to remove the tanks in a 30' race boat. The tanks were under quarter berths each side. Had to cut out the plywood over the tanks with a saber and hand saw. Then break/grind out fiberglass tabs along three sides of the tanks before I could get the tanks out. Had to glue and screw cleats in to support the no longer monolithic plywood area, and provide material to rescrew the cut out plywood back in place. Took me more than 4 hours to get the tanks out and rebuild the space to put the tanks back in largely because of the inaccessability of one side of the tank. That was the easy part, money wise. New custom aluminum tanks were $900 for two relatively small tanks. Probably will take more than two hours to reinstall the tanks by the time they are tabbed back in place and the plywood screwed back down. So about 6 hours labor, $40.00 worth of materials and $900 in tanks if you hired someone to do this relatively simple tank R&R.

You are going to have to assess your tank R&R. Have seen jobs that required dismantling about half the salon area, others required engine removal, very few are easy.

[rhhmadry]

Thanks for the reply.
The tank is under the cabin sole. Will take a major teardown to get to it.
Bummer

[Pirate Dick]

The tanks on my TOCK were replaced by the original owner. All I know is his name is Robert Drecker. You have me curious. I love talking with other TOCK owners. Mine is named Pirates Den and is hull #8. We are now in Slidell, LA preparing to cast off soon. PM me when you get time.
John

[roverhi]

Depending on what your access is, could you cut up the existing tank in place to get it out?? This just occured to me, maybe replace it with two or more stock tanks that will fit in through the existing access or a fuel bladder tank.

Good luck, it doesn't sound like it will be fun.

[jlfjlf]

Hello,

I purchased hull #11 with the fuel tank having already let go into the bilge.

The tank is way to big to get out of the companion way in one piece so the replacement would have necessitated 2 or more smaller tanks. Also I think part of the shower wall would have had to come out. I didn't want to do either.

The first thing I did was cut out the floor above the tank. Basically cutting from the wooden hatch that allows access to the connection hoses aft-ward to the bulkhead and also to port to the bildge inspection cover at the center line. I then cut an inspection hatch into the tank itself in the starboard center of the tank and also the port center of the tank inside the closet. I made the holes big enough to get my arm and shoulder into.

Next I cleaned, cleaned and cleaned some more. Using a wire brush on a drill, power sander and solvents. In my case the tank was structurally sound with some pitting and pin holes on the floor of the tank. I finished the whole thing with a through Acetone wash.

Next I applied a 2 part epoxy paint by Hemple. It was designed for fuel tanks and is very thick. 3 coats later it was about 30 mills thick. I covered the entire tank top to bottom including the tank baffle. (there is only one baffle along the centerline).

This had to cure for about 4 weeks so don't be in a hurry.

After that I had two stainless inspection plate covers made and sealed her up. I have been cruising full time with the tanks for over 2 years now. I pulled one of the plates off about 3 months ago. I still looks perfect. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

There are a couple of pics on our blog here

Hope this helps,
Jim