Fuel tank replacement

[K4282]

My starboard fuel tank is now leaking, port one doesn't look much better. After some thought ive decided its best to go with saddle tanks instead of cutting up the rear deck to remove the old galvi tanks, some F32s had this as an option. Does anyone know the specs or supplier for said tanks? Theirs a company here in Bristol RI that makes tanks, not sure if they have the measurements to make an OEM style tank. My plan is to fill the old tanks with water and cut them out in the boat giving me more storage under the rear deck as well as some room to add some extra water carrying capacity, I plan to make my head rinse with fresh water instead of the dirty stinky salt water it rinses with now from the through hull

[prowlersfish]

Perhaps Beacon marine will have the measurements or drawings . I believe the F32 saddle tanks are small at 50 gal each

[g36]

too bad your aft deck doesnt screw down, my aft tanks on my 78 f32 were easy to replace, any way i used these people to make mine. http://www.sptanks.com/webdev/home.htm

[rmatt]

Luther's is the name of the tank fabricator in Bristol RI. They made Saddle and Main tanks for my 1978 F32 many years ago. Call them, they may keep measurements of whatever they build.
Luthers's Welding
Address: 500 Wood St, Bristol, RI 02809
Phone: (401) 253-5550
http://www.lutherswelding.com/index.html

[larryeddington]

+++ on SPtanks.

I have two ready to install new ones for F28, Aluminum and 74 gals each if anyone interested built by SPtanks. They are custom for f28.

[Cmount]

Atlantic Coast Welding/Speedy Tanks did mine. They had drawings of the tanks. Did a great job for me on my f32 saddle tank replacement about 5 years ago. They are in NJ

[mikeandanne]

I also replaced our aft tanks, once the deck is up it is like 10 minutes a side out...(we had the fibreglass deck hatch though)......and then lots of room to work ,also you can fit larger tanks with some thought..factory water tank was between the stringers in the centre....please rethink the filling with water then going into a confined space and cutting steel apart thing.....would be much easier and safer for all if you open the deck, lift em out with a forklift you probably wouldn't have to drain.

Pfish is right, there is only room for 50 usg tanks in the saddle position....not much capacity....stay safe

[K4282]

I had a 78, that was easy to get to the tanks! Previous owner of that one had a leaky tank welded, nobody is going to crawl in mine and weld mine I dont think. Only 50 gallons each, thats a bummer, although the aft tanks are only 64. I still think this is my best option. As for filling the tanks with water and cutting them out there is really no rush, thats a one day type thing, they can sit there, starboard side is or almost empty at this point, it was full a few weeks ago :-/ Maybe I'll get real ambitious and cut up the rear deck, then I can lift them out easily and put it back together with some new tanks and fiberglass over the teak plywood floor I have there now.... I've never fiberglass before but at least its flat and looks fairly simple. I dont know, only a few weeks left in the season, I'll figure it out over the winter.

[K4282]

Maybe I cut my rear cockpit area similar to the newer models and use some trim and screws to put it back together...

[jimbo36]

I seem to recall reading there is an issue with handling the F32 with full saddle and empty rear tanks, particularly in a following sea. You may want to research this.

[K4282]

interesting Jimbo, I removed my onboard generator, so i wonder if that would offset anything but let me do some research

[jimbo36]

K4282, Google "F32 lawsuit" read "The Hull Truth" Article refers to the fairly flat 9 degree dead rise and the importance of weight in the stern on this model. etc; etc;

[rmatt]

Before I had new tanks made for my 1978 F32 I spoke to the folks at the Trojan factory about repowering. They said that the tried to put 454's in the F32 but unless the boat had the saddle tank option the boat would bow steer as the main tanks used fuel. So weight was a known problem then.

[WayWeGo]

K4282, Google "F32 lawsuit" read "The Hull Truth" Article refers to the fairly flat 9 degree dead rise and the importance of weight in the stern on this model. etc; etc;

Much better info is located at http://www.leagle.com/decision/19871426 ... KER%20CORP. It is a bit tedious reading around all the legal jargon, but there is a lot of interesting info on what happened and expert testimony on the F32. If you get to the footnotes, there is additional info there.

Apparently the Sea Mar only had a single 800gpm bilge pump in the forward location. A previous owner had installed a rear pump, but that had been removed prior to the accident. One of the expert witnesses reported that it would take about 450 gallons to stall the engines, which would take the pump 30 minutes to remove (they did not attempt to derate the pump for a couple feet of head). Their opinion was that even having a rear pump would not have avoided the accident due to influx of water through the engine vents.

I also found it interesting that they felt the F32 was seaworthy to 12 foot waves, if the engine vent was not present.

Reading what the experts had to say got me thinking about some changes to our boat that I have been planning. Most likely, I will continue with replacing the forward bilge pump and switch, but probably add a larger pump just forward of amidships. We only have the stock two bilge pumps plus the ability to quickly convert our engine flush system to draw water from the bilges.

All that said, I would be careful taking weight from the aft of a boat that is designed to be bow heavy, especially if you have already removed the genset.

[jimbo36]

WayWeGo +1