Fuel sending unit repair / tank cleaning

[flyingfrizzle]

Prior to going on Vacation this year I decided to install my smaller 35 gallon (thought it was 40-45 gallon) fuel tank. This was the tank that came with the boat when I got it but not original to the hull. It had been coal tar epoxied and looked to be in good shape. It had angle welded to the top edges so it could be screwed in to the stringers vs foamed. On short time I decided to use it vs building another one for now. I actually got a 90 gallon tank to build right now for a 23 and one day will build me a 60 gallon or so for the 20 sceptre once I get the chance. I have ran the boat on a 12 gallon plastic tank since it was simi redone and thought it would be nice to get something in there more useable for longer runs. Most of the time 12 gallons gets me there and back to the fishing hole and I normally bring a 5 gallon plastic tank in the nose for ballast as an reserve.
Anyhow, I had never installed it due to the sending unit was screwed in with tek screws (self tapping screws) and was stripped out. I decide to cut out a 8x8" square and weld back on a thicker 1/4" piece so that there was enough meat there to tap the holes out for 12-24 screws. Once I got the hole cut I found the inside to have some varnish in the tank. It came out fairly easy. Took a rag and soaked it in sea foam and it rubbed right off the tank insides. The tank has two baffles so I ended up cutting two more holes to access all three compartments for cleaning and then welded it back up. The tank was 1/8" and I ended up cutting slightly larger pieces of scrap plate to lap over the edges slightly to make it easier to weld up. This should also make it would warp less from the heat input. I ended up adding a little bit thicker piece to the front as I did in the middle so I could weld in a new filler neck as the one on the tank now is pointed the wrong direction. After only getting 33 gallons in it I probably won't end up keeping it in the hull but temporary. It turned out well over all. Over vac. last week I ran the boat more than I ever have far as single day trips and burned between 50-60 gallons last week. I ended up adding 10-15 gallons each day just to make sure I didn't run out and it did fine for where I was at but would rather still have had 60 gallon capacity incase I ever want to make longer runs. Not too worried about it though as the 30 gallons will cover 90% of my trips for now.

[DonV]

Nice Frizz!! I wish I could take off about 24" to 30" of the rear of the tank I have now, I don't need 144 gallons and as we all know as the boat sits most of the fuel's weight is at the rear of the tank. Like to get that forward a bit.

[natecert]

I wish I had your welding skill set. Good looking work by the way.