Anyone familiar with the 1986 189V? My rear livewell needs a new pump & aerator. Pump I can handle (I think) however I cannot figure out what to do about the aerator.

The only way to get to the livewell plumbing is through the rear hatch. Problem is the gas tank blocks the side where the pump sits. I tried to pull the gas tank today, but after about 5 hours of trying I finally realized it wasn't going to come out (they had to have put it in before the cap went on the boat because it's much bigger than the opening and there isn't any play room to manuver it out).

Anyone have any suggestions? I really need to get this rear livewell up & running as it's the bigger of the two livewells.

The gas tank also makes it very hard to work on the livewell pump also as it's nearly impossible to get a hand back into the blige area where the pumps sit. The pumps are old Atwoods that I can no longer find so I need to redo the setup but the limited space will make it "fun".


Thanks!
Willie