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Allright fellas, I need to get a group opinion here thats going to decide whether or not this boat is going to be in the water this summer... Some of you know that my '79 Sedan was one of the Virginia state police boats that sold at auction back in 2007... The boat was a gasser that now has a set of new Cummins recon diesels in it... What I am trying to figure out is if the original fuel tank that was in the boat has been ruined by ethanol or what... The fuel that was in the boat up until today was in there since I'm guessin 2005-6.. It looked clear yellow, no phase separation at all but what I did see was about a half inch of an almost caramel brown goo... I am trying to figure out if that is the varnish result of an additive in the fuel breaking down or if it is the resin from the fiberglass in the tank... It appears that there is a fairly uniform coating of the brown crap all over the tank with some concentration where the baffels were riveted into the sides of the tank... There are a few minor small blisters and the crap comes off with a wipe of acetone... Do we think this tank is worthy of a thorough cleaning and use? Or do you think its shot?

Thanks guys...
-John

Jon,

That tank is in great condition. All old gas, varnish, and fuel stain. Fine for a diesel conversion.

Just wash it out as best you can, like we spoke of on the phone, vacuum up the remainder after no fumes can be detected, and you're off to the races.

Br,

Patrick

john i am still pretty sure the boat did not see corn juice. i don`t think they had the crap gas in 2005 in VA. i still maintain that is all gas residue of low lead gas.

80 Views and nobody has anything to add?

Your tank looks a lot better than mine did !!

when you clean her up she is ready to use.

BR Gert

What should we say after Capt. Patrick says it looks great? The great OZ has spoken.

I will play devils advocate and suggest waiting a couple of weeks with it open to the air and after its completely dry. It does look really good and I would agree its fine but around the rivits, I see the small start of the failure in the picture with the baffle on the other side.

Mine got worse when it was allowed to dry while I was waiting to throw it out.

Once dry and open for a while, you will be able to be confident that its perfect.

Here is what mine looked like.

I'm pretty sure VA didn't have E10 in 2005-2006.

John,
That tank looks really good, Clean out the varnish as best you can, Clean off the bonding strap and the chrystalized deposits around the bottoms of all bronze plates. I would invest some money into new pick-up tubes and a new sending unit. As for the varnish use some acetone or something else that will cut the varnish, just don't let it sit for any lenght of time. I would keep a bunch of fuel filters on hand for the first month. I have seen other tanks that have been damaged by the ethenol, yours don't look like it ever had any inside. Put the boat in the water and enjoy it, Good luck.
Pete

Blistering: Noticable small blisters are usually formed between the gelcoat and fiberglass. In terms of a fuel tank, they are inconsequental and do no harm.

Stains around and running down from the pop rivets: The rivets used are 304 SS and have a comparitavely high tendancy to rust, which is what I see on Jon's tank.

There's pretty much no way that this tank ever saw ethanol blended gasoline, so there's no degradation of the polyester resin.

For a 32 year old tank, it's condition is excellent.

Jon, stop worrying about using this tank for diesel and get on with converting it over! You DO NOT need a new tank...

John,
That tank looks clean to me. I have seen a lot of alumum tanks look a lot worse than that. Clean and fill it up.

As always, Thanks fellas! I will be cleaning it out tomorrow...

What is this picture of?

Looks like this was a cut in tank.

its a bonding strap...

Now I can see it! Thanks!

Ian.