DECEMBER 2018  
To get better access to the bilge area for cleaning and examination, we pull out the 50 gallon fiberglass diesel tank from under the engine bay and due to its size, we are forced to keep it inside the cabin for cleaning since it is bigger than the companionway. Almost twenty gallons of old diesel are hand pumped out of it before we get to see the sludge at the bottom. No big surprise considering the age but it all needs to be cleaned out.

Here’s the bottom of the tank prior to cleaning.

With no water supply on site, it will all be done by hand. I used a small electric pump to agitate the sediment and flush it out with old diesel. After that it was scrubbed and wiped out. The aroma of diesel oil accompanies me for days afterwards….

JANUARY 2019 
After the tank was cleaned, the corroded old fittings were removed and new replacements sourced from the plumbing supply section of a large home improvement store. The original fuel pick-up pipe was badly corroded so a new brass tube assembly is being made. In addition, the plastic access plate in the tank is being replaced with a larger, metal unit as a safety improvement while at the same time, I am adding a KUS fuel sender so that a fuel gauge can be added to the boat. This will avoid the need to open the access plate to check fuel level. The engine had an electric fuel pump added in it’s later years so we may keep that option to avoid bleeding the system occasionally.

Yes, I can still smell that diesel aroma …..

February, 2019

After the cleaning comes the re-fitting. Today I enlarged the access hatch hole to accommodate the new SeaBuilt clean-out/inspection port. This is a 10 inch diameter aluminum plate with an 8 inch access hole and integral fixed gasket. A new flange mounting hole was also added which will be used for the fuel gauge sender. The sender unit does not go all the way to the bottom of the tank which will allow for a small fuel reserve amount to be available for emergency and also to avoid using any low level contaminated fuel in normal operations. All the other flange fittings were dry fitted and it only remains now to seal them together before screwing them back to the tank.

Here’s the tank with its new fittings during a dry fit;

May 2019 – Tank Finished.

In case you were wondering, the tank has now been ready to put back for some weeks. It has been cleaned inside and out, fitted with a new pick-up pipe, all new fittings, a fuel gauge and a larger, metal inspection hatch. Since we need to access the stern and bilge area during the overall re-build, the tank has been placed on the side of the cabin, out of the way whilst we continue with other tasks. It also got a fresh coat of epoxy on the top surface to highlight any leaks whilst in service.

Here it is today;