Sold My E-Tec -- Need Help w/ New Boat

The new boat doesn't have an Evinrude or Johnson, but you guys have been great, so I thought I'd see if you could help me out.

My 'new' boat is 38 years old, 28 feet long and 8 feet wide with 12' air draft on the trailer. I bought her on Ebay sight unseen and brought her back to SC from Lake Mead (Las Vegas). The motor is a drop in 350 Chevy (Volvo Penta) with 10 hours on it. The outdrive is the ancient VP 250. The boat is in very good mechanical shape, and we were preparing to splash her at Lake Murray for a NYE celebration aboard.

I prepped her by changing the engine and outdrive oil, new filters and put 40 gallons of alcohol free fuel in her rear tank. The next morning I had to pump about 12 gallons of gas out of her bilge...we have a leaking fuel tank.

I sucked all the fuel out of the bilge and emptied the tank -- there's still traces of gas in the bilge that I'm working on.

I need to get the fuel tank(s) out, and folks who have done this before say the engine has to come out first. I'm guessing the outdrive has to come off before the engine comes out. There's plenty of space in the engine room to get the job done, and she's never been in salt water so I was considering doing the job myself, but my wife says I should see about getting someone else to do it.

Can any of you recommend a shop that might like to undertake the tank removal? The boat is on the trailer, ready to go, so almost anywhere in SC would be fine. Schedule is not an issue, there's really no hurry.

Here we are on the way back from Las Vegas.

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...6/IMAG0319.jpg

http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...6/1820f135.jpg

Anyone?

Post some pictures of the gas tank/engine area.

The tanks sit between stringers in the belly. Here you see the aft tank which protruded into the engine room.
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...A/IMAG0568.jpg

Here's another view.
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...A/IMAG0562.jpg

This is from the flybridge showing engine accessibility.
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...A/IMAG0574.jpg

The floorboards come up in the cabin, but not wide enough to remove the tanks without cutting them into smaller pieces. I'm told that by using. 2x4 as a lever at the front end of the tank they can be maneuvered into the engine room and then removed (this from someone who has done it on the same boat).

Here's a view looking along the side of the tank in the bilge.
http://i112.photobucket.com/albums/n...A/IMAG0567.jpg
The pipe is the holding tank pump out.

The other tank is in front of the one shown and all fittings are easily accessible through the cabin sole.

I'd put plastic tanks back in, maybe smaller so they could be installed/removed with the engine in place.


Modified by jeffnick at 3:22 PM 12/25/2010

I have done something similar to this. In my case I took a recep saw and cut the old tank out then relaced it with 3 smaller plastic tanks. Having on large tank was more convienant but removing and going back with three was MUCH easier. Go that route and you can still have your NYE party.

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by snizzle &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">I have done something similar to this. In my case I took a recep saw and cut the old tank out then relaced it with 3 smaller plastic tanks. Having on large tank was more convienant but removing and going back with three was MUCH easier. Go that route and you can still have your NYE party.</td></tr></table>
I would want that tank bone dry of fuel and no vapors present. The brushes in the saw are sparking ........

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by Bassmeister &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">
I would want that tank bone dry of fuel and no vapors present. The brushes in the saw are sparking ........</td></tr></table>

Roger that!<u></u> I have a compressed air driven recip saw, but I still couldn't bring myself to have at the tanks with it.

I was hoping a shop out there might be into a winter dry spell would welcome a project. If an interested shop doesn't turn up before the manuals I ordered arrive, I'll work on a plan to do it myself.


Modified by jeffnick at 11:25 PM 12/25/2010