Fuel Pickup Bronze Plate Replacement

Vince Luciani · Post by **Vince Luciani** » Mar 26th, '07, 10:49

Does anyone know where I can get a replacement for this fuel pickup plate. This is what I found when I took my deck up. I guess I could fabricate one if necessary, but I was hoping to avoid that if possible.

Thanks,
Vince

Carl · Post by **Carl** » Mar 26th, '07, 10:57

That plate should be bronze, remove the rusted out sending unit, clean up the plate and should be as good as new. I blasted mine with walnut shells, chased the threads and re-assembled.

Kevin · Post by **Kevin** » Mar 26th, '07, 11:14

Ditto on that. Get rid of those gate valves. I put ball valves in mine. The plate looks good with exception of the sender and the valves.

Vince Luciani · Post by **Vince Luciani** » Mar 26th, '07, 12:14

I know that the valves have to go. But, the plate is corroded clear through. The pictures don't show it well, but trust me, there are holes thru to the tank.

CaptPatrick · Post by **CaptPatrick** » Mar 26th, '07, 12:34

Vince,

I doubt seriously that the bronze manifold plate is corroded, other than surface oxidation. I can see that the steel sender plate is shot...

Once you get the manifold plate off, stripped down of valves and such, it'll clean right up. You can use muriatic acid to clean the surface. Paint it on, let it sit, rinse it off. Do as many times as necessary. Finished acid clean up will leave it copper pink as the surface tin will be etched away. Left this way, it'll eventually turn green & stop further oxidation.

A small stainless steel wire brush will also help through out the process.

If, and I doubt it, there actually is a pit that goes all the way through in the bronze plate, it can be brazed, silver soldered, or even lead soldered....

That plate assembly is, by the way, totally unavailable as a new item, but is probably the one item on the boat that will out last every other part.

Br,

Patrick

Vince Luciani · Post by **Vince Luciani** » Mar 26th, '07, 13:49

Capt Pat,
I might have the first one that doesn't outlast every other part. I definately have holes in mine. I found them when I power washed everything at demo time. I can put a screwdriver thru them. The first picture probably shows them best. It is the dark area. The plate unfortunately fell right on the edge of one of my hatches. It was subjected to alot of leakage from the deck. The return plate is in excellent condition.

I'm sorry to hear that the plate assembly is not available. Does anybody who's getting new tanks want to sell me one of their old ones?

Ted_R · Post by **Ted_R** » Mar 26th, '07, 14:15

Vince: The "dark area" in your photos is the sending unit mounting plate, held to the "fuel pick-up plate" by 5 screws. If it was the old swing arm with a float type, it is trash anyway. You need a capacitance type fuel level sender anyway, no moving parts. Made by Centriod products, Edgewater, Fl. 386-423-3574 they will need info re; tank size and configuration, but only sell to dealers, but will give you name of dealer you can buy from. These units are the only way to go, mines been in service 14 years, old swing arm mech style would corrode away in less than a year!! Plus centroid now has a computerized fuel gauge that computes fuel burn/hr. Their sender is compatible with older style gauges.
Ted

scot · Post by **scot** » Mar 26th, '07, 14:43

Vince,

I have one you can have. Send me a PM.

Rawleigh · Post by **Rawleigh** » Mar 26th, '07, 15:22

Vince: Take it off and drop it in a bucket of 50/50 muriatic acid and let it cook for a while. Or if you like the bronze color, take it to the local auto shop and have it bead blasted. It will probably be perfect. If not, get back with me and I may be able to fix you up. Worst case, any good machine shop can duplicate it for not too much money.

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Mar 26th, '07, 15:26

Vince,
Like everyone else, that hole you see is the fuel guage sender, that is a seperate unit from the main plate. There is a 1 1/2" hole in the fuel plate that the float from the sender goes down into. If you remove that old sender, you'll see the nice round hole.

Remove the screws around, disconnect or cut the wire and pull the unit out.
Chase the holes and install a new sender that matches the guage resistance you have and depth of tank. You can go by the brand of guage.

Vince Luciani · Post by **Vince Luciani** » Mar 26th, '07, 15:39

Thanks everyone for the replies. I got it now! The plate is OK but the fuel gauge sender is bad. My bad for not looking closer.

Scot thanks for the offer, but I think I am going to install a new fuel sender. It sounds like that's preferred over the old type.

CaptPatrick · Post by **CaptPatrick** » Mar 26th, '07, 15:50

Vince,

I'm stickin' to my guns... In the photo part of the above image, am I pointing, (white arrows), at your hole(s)? If so, then the holes are being poked through the rusted out steel sender flange. There is a fair sized hole directly below those points that the swing arm sender mechanisim goes down through, as diagramed to right...

Br,

Patrick

CaptPatrick · Post by **CaptPatrick** » Mar 26th, '07, 16:09

Vince,

Glad you finally saw the forest instead of the tree... lol

Here's what the unit looks like off of the tank & without the sender. Be sure to collect any crap that's fallen into your tank from the old sender...

Br,

Patrick

Vince Luciani · Post by **Vince Luciani** » Mar 26th, '07, 19:21

Sorry for my confusion. (I'm sure you guys all knew that I was confused!)

Capt Pat, I guess I have no options but to empty my tank to collect all the loose debris (crap).

CaptPatrick · Post by **CaptPatrick** » Mar 26th, '07, 19:39

Vince,

Just be carefull about it... Even better yet, get a professional to clean & filter your fuel. DON'T be tempted to use a shop vac! Or any other pump that's not ignition protected...

Br,

Patrick

JP Dalik · Post by **JP Dalik** » Mar 26th, '07, 19:57

Capt. Pat
What engines in that project? Can you use the existing 3/8 stuff from factory. Or do you have to break out the taps.

CaptPatrick · Post by **CaptPatrick** » Mar 26th, '07, 20:19

JP,

Installing Yanmar 4LHA 240's... They will draw less than 454 big blocks that came out, so oversizing necessary. I can tap off of the existing center plug for a gen pickup & have 2 ports in the factory fill plate to send the returns to.

Br,

Patrick

scooter28 · Post by **scooter28** » Apr 2nd, '07, 21:43

hey guys have you ever had a problem with the pickup tube cracking? Mine had a crack running lengthwise so that when i was up on plane i had fuel but when i slowed down like to start fishing the engines would die like i ran outa gas. Since it started sucking air anyways i picked up a new brass tube and silver soldered it in the distribution block. Just thought i'd give you all a heads up, that it can happen if it hasn't already to you guys.

In Memory of Vicroy · Post by **In Memory of Vicroy** » Apr 2nd, '07, 22:06

We been talking about that problem for close to 10 years here. The original fuel pickup tube was rolled copper soldered up a seam.......do a reverse search and you will see our thinking on this, and how we solved the problem 8 years ago.

UV

scooter28 · Post by **scooter28** » Apr 2nd, '07, 22:12

haha you just can't get enough i guess its my fault i never read the vicroy's guide to b31.com

scooter28 · Post by **scooter28** » Apr 3rd, '07, 07:10

by the way i know you think you know it all but on my boat it was a brass tube and solid no soldered seams.

Capt. Mike Holmes · Post by **Capt. Mike Holmes** » Apr 3rd, '07, 07:24

Better to have a separate pickup tube for each engine, in my opinion, and there are lots of parts replaced with other than original in these boats over the years. It would be a shame if we stopped listening to each other and sharing ideas, just argued instead.

Rawleigh · Post by **Rawleigh** » Apr 3rd, '07, 08:23

I with you Mike!!

Capt Dick Dean · Post by **Capt Dick Dean** » Apr 3rd, '07, 08:41

As far as I can see, the advice on this board is priceless. So much better than having some half ass boat mechanic guessing at the situation.

Thank you, Capt Patrick!

Doc · Post by **Doc** » Apr 3rd, '07, 08:48

When I posted last week about my clogged fuel pick-up screen, I noticed the solder balls along the sides of the p/u tube. Now I know that that's the way it was originally constructed and not a batch job by a former steward!

Doc · Post by **Doc** » Apr 3rd, '07, 08:49

make that a botched up job

scooter28 · Post by **scooter28** » Apr 3rd, '07, 14:43

I had the same copper screen soldered on mine. just that the tube was brass and a solid piece. It looked original but i could be wrong. I also had the cracks kinda wrapping around the tube and not going perfectly vertical. I just wanted to keep this fresh since i know how aggravating it could be if this happened to a newbie who didn't know about this problem. Since a cracked pickup tube is one of the last things i would be checking for if i had the problem. Also i made a ring out of aluminum and put heli-coils in it to make a nutplate if you will, so i don't have to fool with nuts or anything going inside the tank it really did a nice job.

Rawleigh · Post by **Rawleigh** » Apr 3rd, '07, 15:29

Good idea! How did you hold the ring in place? Epoxy or something else?

scooter28 · Post by **scooter28** » Apr 3rd, '07, 16:03

actually i didn't fasten it to the tank. one because i didn't know if i'd like it and two because the bolts themselves hold it up i just held it in place by hand, sticking my arm through the oval hole and starting my bolts. Its a lot easier worrying about holding a ring then some little nuts. I know i took pics i'll try to dig em up if i can.

Bruce · Post by **Bruce** » Apr 3rd, '07, 16:49

So much better than having some half ass boat mechanic guessing at the situation.

I'll have you know that I'm considered a full ass in some circles. So there.

bertram31.com

Fuel Pickup Bronze Plate Replacement

Fuel Pickup Bronze Plate Replacement

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