1995 Adventure 208 Fuel Tank replacement

[David Olson]

Has anyone replaced the 82 gallon aluminum fuel tank recently on a Grady White Adventure 208. Mine is a 1995 model with original tank so I think it's about time to replace it. I've contacted Florida Marine Tanks and the current price is $911.00 plus shipping. Does this seem like a good price? Has anyone replaced the aluminum tank with a plastic tank? If so what size did you use. I really don't need 82 gallons of fuel going bad. A 50 gallon tank would probably be just fine. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[gw204]

Do yourself a favor and pull the tank for inspection before you jump right into a replacement. Once you see what kind of shape it's in, then you can make your decision. Chance are you'll have a few spots of corrosion that you can clean up. Get the corrosion out, etch them, fill w/ gray Marine Tex and sand flush. Then sand all the primer off, re-etch the entire tank and coat it w/ coal tar epoxy or Interprotect. Reinstall w/ all new plumbing.

If you end up having to replace, don't waste your money on a 50 gallon plastic tank. That will put a hit on your resale value. Get one that's at least close to the original size. Nothing says you have to keep it full all the time...

 

[David Olson]

Thanks gw204. I unscrewed and pulled off the fiberglass cover today. The tank doesn't seem so bad now that I can look at the whole thing. I'm going to clean and paint the top right now since it's loaded with fuel. Once I burn off 80 gallons I'll try your suggestion and pull the whole tank out. Now my problem is trying to get the screws removed from the fuel sender. I'm going to soak them a couple of days with PB Blaster. I'd like to look in the tank and see how dirty it is. Any suggestions on who to remove the screws? I allready bought an impact screw remover but I don't want to hit it with a hammer but so hard.

 

[richie rich]

I'd wait on the painting until it's out of the boat. You'll be cleaning, sanding, repairing holes, etching then epoxying....and it will be easier to do the whole thing at once....no point rushing it if it's coming out anyway. After soaking the screws in penetrating oil, I made sure I had the best fitting screwdriver for that size screw and use good downward pressure on the head and give it a go...you may get lucky.

 

[seasick]

No on the impact driver. It is easy to bend the flange or the tank . As mentioned, a good fitting screwdriver should do it. I would replace the sender if you rehab the tank. Don't over tighten the sender screws, you will distort the flange also.
One word of caution: An emptied tank is as dangerous or more so than a full one since there will always be fumes and fumes are explosive, not the fuel. So be careful when working on it when emptied. Depending on what is being done, some shops will fill the tank with water ( yes, very heavy and it needs a flat surface to sit on) while working on most of the outside. Another trick is to put dry ice in the tank to freeze the vapors but I don't know if that really works since I have never seen it done. You probably wouldn't do this but don't use a shop vac to get the last bits of crud out of the tank. The fumes can explode.

 

[David Olson]

Thanks Everyone for the good advice.