Joe is right, it would be complete overkill to replace the tank with a new one. The problem lies in dealing with the old petrol and fumes in the original tank, b/c if you hit it with the Saws-all and there are still fumes in that tank, then you are going to have a lot more to worry about than a small leak...you will, however, have solved the tank deconstruction issue though (in about 0.015 seconds and a very bright flask).
I cant remember how a friend of mine de-volatilized a tank when they cut it out of a trawler (it was a gasoline engined Chinese knock-off of a Grand Banks...a piece of crap, sorta) but I can ask. I'd also do a search on Sailing Anarchy as I think there have been a bunch of threads dealing with leaky tanks. tf > I don't have an inboard, but why not empty the tank. Cut out the top > (sawsall) and insert a readymade plastic tank in the cavity. Plumb to > that > tank. I suppose the capacity of the tank would be less, but this seems > like > a simple answer and much cheaper too. > > > > Joe McCary > > Aeolus II > West River, MD > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: catalina27-talk: Major problem - Gas Tank Leak > > > > I have been a fan of all of this collective knowledge in these emails, but > I > am facing my own major problem that I am hoping there is a golden nugget > of > knowledge. > > > > I have a 1977 Catalina 27 in Lake Texoma near Dallas. It has served my > dad > and I well over the years but recently it has developed a slight leak in > the > gas tank - we have the original Universal Atomic 4 with less than 400 > hours > on it. > > > > Unfortunately, the estimate to cut out the lazarette remove the tank and > replace with a new one is $3200 of which only $250 is the new tank itself. > This would really be too much to spend on this boat so it may be an end of > an era if I dont come up with something else. > > > > I was wondering if there was any brilliant advice, if any of you have > replaced the tank before etc. > >
