Well - my most dreaded part of my project is finally over - I got all the fuel lines replaced - single handed. I want to thank everyone on this site for the previous posts, that helped make my pulls a success, and I'd like to share my experience...First of all, I have a used 1991 24ft Offshore that I recently purchased as a project. I first removed the tanks - the 93 gallon came out fine after I disconnnected and siphoned out what little bit of gas remained, removed the spacers, as well as trimmed a little bit of glass that was over the top of the tank edge in one spot. The 56 gallon, auxilary, was a different story. It would not fit thru the hole, so I used a dremel tool and trimmed one edge of lip of the hatch area, about 1/8", for about half of the length of the opening; then it lifted out fine. Next -there was a small area of access up under my gunwale where the 2 vent and 2 fuel fill lines start. I first backed out all screws in the area that would tear my hands to shreads, this helped a lot. I then disconnected all the lines. I removed a nearby gunwale mounted rod holder, and also the main fill tube stub - to provide access/guide for the new hoses to either be pulled or pushed through these holes. I went to Lowes and purchased a 5/8" dowel for the vent line, and unfortunately the largest dowel they had was 1-3/8" dowel for the Fuel line, needed a 1-1/2" (sounds like not a big deal - but was - keep reading-ha!). The dowels came in 4 ft sections, and I cut a 4" piece off of each, screwed (with 4-1/2" wood screws flush into the hose) 2 inches into each of the old line and new line - where I spliced them together - then wrapped good with black electrical tape. From what I had read, the hardest line to pull would be the Fuel line, main tank; therefore I left this one for last. I started with the easiest, auxilary vent line; so I would make sure I had my process down before I got to the last/hard one. On all 4 lines that got pulled - I found that in some cases it was easier to connect the new line at the gunnel, and pull into the fuel compartment; othertimes it pulled better connecting the new in the fuel compartment, and pulling it out thru the gunnel area. On a couple of these, I would start one direction, and to no avail, I would switch my setup and pull directon. Once connected, pulling and twisting on one end, would gain me maybe 6", then I would push another 6" into the hole, and repeat the process of push/pull - twist. Beware - the smaller 1-3/8" dowel came back to haunt me on the auxilary 1-1/2" fuel line pull. This one pulled easier, pulling it out thru the gunnel, and no luck pulling into the boat. This was my third line pull of the morning, and when I went to unscrew the hoses from the dowl, after having pulled up thru the gunwale rod holder hole (which the hose was now vertical); I forgot the dowl was not a tight fit inside the hose. Without thinking I unscrewed the hoses and the dowel dropped back into the new hose that was just pulled. 2 hrs later trying to run an electrical snake thru the line to push it out and trying to attach to it with glue - resulted in failure - I decided that I would again have to attached the old hose to the new and pull back thru the boat, so I could get the dowl out. Since the hose would not pull into the boat, this meant pulling the old hose back thru with the new, then reattaching the new onto the old, and pulling it.... so one small mistake on the dowel disconnect - 1 pull of the fuel hose turned into 3 pulls... NOT fun; so be careful if you use the dowel method and the dowels aren't a snug fit inside the hose. By now it was almost 95 degrees, humidity was 95, I was exhausted and dehydrated - the last line would have to wait. I went to tackle it yesterday morning. The main fuel fill line ended up being the easiest pull of all. I had all my methods down pat by now. I connected the new to the old in the fuel compartment, and pulled out through the gunnel fill hole. It came fine, after some major twisting and pulling at first. What helped was the fact that the newer line, which although had the same innner diameter, had a smaller outter diameter than the old hose, and more than twice as flexible. The smaller outer diameter and flexible hose, paid off. There was a sigh of relief, and this last pull took 30 minutes, and didn't break a sweat - of course, doing it a the break of day while it was still 60 some degrees helped. With the lines pulled, I went ahead and ordered my 2 new tanks yesterday morning. I am having the tanks expoxy sprayed and they are perfect match to the previous tanks. The new tanks and all the new fuel lines - doing the labor myself - the cost will come in right about $2000. My next project is replacing the electrical. Fortunately, the old tanks are both in decent shape, I plan to clean up and try and sale; I'm just wanting new ones, since I'm doing a major overhaul of all. I'm just glad I got the lines behind me. I hope this post can help others wanting to replace the lines using the dowel method. Thanks.
Pulling Fuel Tanks & Lines - My experience
- Thread starter Jbird
- Start date
Jbird, sounds like a lot of work, and I'll bet you're glad that it is done. I recently purchased a 241 Offshore that I may end up doing the same thing. Good to know I can get some info from someone with first hand experience. :goodjob
That's a great idea using the dowel and a great explanation of the process. And thank you for sharing the "oops" moment - that's probably just as important as the actual method! 
I have to admit, I did lose a little sleep over the anticipation of getting this done - ha! I took a bunch of photos along the way; be glad to share with anyone when they are ready to tackle. Again, I got a lot of valuable info from this site, ideas, etc - then developed my plan of attack. I am glad this part is behind me - thankyou to all for the great ideas.
Just replaced my gas fill hose on a 240 Offshore using this technique and it worked like a charm. Thanks for the post.