Aging and leaking aluminum fuel tanks is an excellent topic! Boats, even fresh water, that are 40 or more years old are very likely to experience aluminum fuel tank leaks. In my case, the leak started over winter and about 7 gallons of fuel went out my garboard drain onto the ground. Really bad. Marina solution was to plug my drain, so diesel fuel started accumulating in the bilge. I lived hundreds of miles from boat so a difficult situation. I alerted marina that my bilge pump would soon start spewing diesel fuel out the side if they didn't drain my tank. Long story short, don't let this disaster happen to you.
I ordered a Moeller plastic tank through West Marine, the lowest price by far at the time. The old aluminum tank was 20 gallons and had no visible holes. The new Moeller, off the shelf tank is 19 gallons and almost exactly the same dimensions. Slid the old aluminum tank out, slid the new tank in, replaced all fuel hoses, including fill hose, and no problems. There are some, I believe, unsubstantiated concerns about plastic fuel tanks. In my opinion, plastic is superior -- doesn't corrode and the fuel level is visible through the wall of the tank. Many boats, mine among them, have a problematic fuel gage. Tried to fix when replacing tank, but decided it wasn't worth more time. Just look at the tank. Foolproof. Jeff Laman 81 C&C34 Harmony Ludington, MI ________________________________ From: John Read via CnC-List <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Sent: Tuesday, May 9, 2023 8:15 AM To: 'Stus-List' <cnc-list@cnc-list.com>; wolf...@erie.net <wolf...@erie.net> Cc: John Read <johnprea...@gmail.com> Subject: Stus-List Re: Question and Report I replaced my fuel tank a few years ago as a precautionary measure to avoid pin hole leaks in mid-summer. After much discussion was advised to have a new aluminum tank fabricated of aircraft grade material to match the old. Main reasons to not use a plastic tank are they are supposedly designed for an open air situation, not permanently installed in the interior and are susceptible to rupture in a fire spilling fuel on the fire. Yes cost more but peace of mind is priceless. John Read Legacy III 1982 C&C 34 Noank, CT From: Matt Wolford via CnC-List Sent: Monday, May 08, 2023 11:31 PM To: 'Stus-List' <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> Cc: wolf...@erie.net Subject: Stus-List Question and Report Listers: Hope all is well. First, I have a question. A friend of mine who owns a C&C 41 (probably ‘80s vintage) discovered that his aluminum diesel tank is leaking. He plans to pull it tomorrow to confirm. I talked briefly with Bill Coleman on this list, and he suggested replacing the aluminum tank with a plastic tank. Does anyone know a source for a plastic replacement diesel tank that will fit this boat? (I assume it’s about 20 gallons.) Please advise. Thanks. Second, I thought I’d report on a recent discovery you may find interesting. As most of you know, my boat is a C&C 42 Custom, “Custom” meaning that it was not a production run boat and was built in the Bruckmann shop. Six of these “stick boats” were built in the mid ‘70s. Every year about this time of year, I get annoyed by a stubborn crack that appears near the top of the forward edge of the keel, near the top where it meets the hull. As most of you understand, this is the front of the so-called C&C smile. On my boat, the C&C smile crack runs along the bottom of the hull where the keel is mated, more or less parallel to the bottom of the hull (the “main smile”). However, I have a second C&C smile that starts at the forward edge of the keel about four of five inches below the forward edge of the main smile, then tapers up toward the bottom of the hull, eventually meeting the main smile about 2/3 of the way back to the aft edge of the keel. I never understood why I get this “second smile.” A few weeks ago some water was seeping out of the stubborn crack at the front edge of the main smile, and I asked my guru to find out what the heck is going on. After some grinding and drilling, he informed me that my keel was probably not made to fit my boat. Instead, the keel from another boat was adapted to fit my boat by creating a lead “wedge” piece (sort of like a big shim) that is widest at the forward edge of the keel and tapers going aft. This wedge fits between the top of the original keel and the hull, giving me two mating seams and thus two C&C smiles. Apparently, my boat is very happy. Matt Matt Wolford C&C 42 Custom Erie, PA
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