Aluminum gas tank installation

[Offshore Madness]

hello,I have been a marine mech for years.Ive worked at a few local marinas,lentz,gateway,atlantic yatchs,and the new york fast ferry.My brother isone of the head guys of cummins mercruiser diesel's r and d department in charleston south carolina.

That said..I am in the process of installing a custom made aluminum fuel tank in my vessel"ever enough" the tank should be done tuesday.I am getting different input on they way i should install it.

 This is the way i was gonna do it..Ripped out all the old wet foam .cleaned and scrubed the tank compartment already with awesome and bleach with dawn soap and flushed all debries out.let it all dry out for 2 days.I then reinforced the floor with pressure treated 2x6,s and screwed them in.I didnt need to do this part but i figured what the heck its open and its there and the wood was free.The exact place were the tank will sit was still in overall great shape so when it was all dry i sprayed a rubberized undercoating in the area.I will also apply this to the sides and bottom of the tank.I will then use plastic strips to run the lenth not with of the tank (this will allow water to always drain to the bildge when bow is up) and ill glue them to the tank first with 5200 let dry then apply a little bit of 5200 to the other side set it in and get 15 gallons of gas for the weight!let dry.then install a plastic starboard type hold down for rust purposes.I was also told that using rubber strips will have a chemical reaction with the aluminum i looked it up!! its true!!! I was gonna leave out the foam this time when i reinforced the floor i also took in to accout the tank so it should (hopefully)slide right in witha half inch on each side for expansion well let me know what your input is thats Aaron

[Reel Time]

 i would not put faith in some latch/bracket/strap or what ever from holding a fuel tank in place when it gets rough. they foam them in for a good reason, and might even be a requirement


edit,,,,,, forget the foam, bad idea

[Offshore Madness]

I don't know if its a requirement guess i should look that up also i was told it is not but better safe then Kaboom!!!!They say when it separates it will hold and accumulate water.. as for holding it down the 5200 will hold the tank in place and putting two pieces of starboard type strips across the top along with custom aluminum brackets i made for the sides should be enough to keep it in place.SO MANY people have told me so much I'm starting to doubt myself("i think") and its got to be right i go way offshore in her.I will look in to the foam issue now thank you for that.

[Reel Time]

 i would say look into thehulltruth web site, alot of very knowledgable persons on there who have done complete restores. a search may provide some intel for ya

[Reel Time]

found a couple things i'll linky for ya. seems the foam is a nogo after all, and invites corrosion by holding in the moisture. it seems like you did some research into this already and just second guessing it all,,, just go with what you have learned already

clicky


clicky too

[Offshore Madness]

Thanks, Reel Time,for the links.It seems everyone has their own way of doing it.I guess so many have said so many different things that it just got to the point where i was sayin to myself"well that makes sense.Even goin against what i have learnd all these years ...foam ,no foam,rubber no rubber,tie downs no tie downs...I think im gonna just do it my way the way i no how to.Its not the first time i did a tank but havent done one in a few years so i figured the laws and regulations would change by now.WEll thanks again Captain for the links it was usefull information.Happy fishin.

[makokeith]

I coal tar epoxy coated my tank and foamed it back in.I then fiberglassed the top of the tank to the top of the foam and sides of the cofin. This way no moisture will get to the tank. I also have a drain so if water gets in from the hatch it has a way to go out.  This topic has been discussed so many times. I think I spent hundreds of hours researching. Does not mean my way is right. But it sounds good. Guess I will see in 30 years.

[Bucktail]

found a couple things i'll linky for ya. seems the foam is a nogo after all, and invites corrosion by holding in the moisture.

Exactly what happened with mine.

[Offshore Madness]

update.. tank will be done tomarrow 4 days past due dont care tho i will post pictures step by step of the install.......... ..