Fuel Tank Replacement

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I replaced Murre’s fuel tank in 2006 because I was rebuilding the cockpit and so had the area opened up.

The mild steel tank hadn’t given me any real trouble—it didn’t leak or seep—even though by the time I bought the boat it was already over 30 years old. But its exterior suggested better days were a memory, and its interior hinted things could go badly soon and without much notice. Large rust blooms were visible in places that had already been repainted at least once, the bottom of the dip stick tended to come up rusty at the tip, and brown rust flakes swam around in small, mean looking schools in the fuel filter bowl.

And a way to resuscitate the old codger was not obvious, either. Water that had collected under the fuel over the decades (little as it may have been) could not be got out because the drain valve was not located at the exact bottom of the tank; nor was the fill fitting large enough to allow a professional fuel polishing hose.

Since the cockpit had been removed, the hour had arrived, so out came the tank.

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