The pickup wasn’t original. The reason it was so long was so that it would
pick up off the bottom of the tank so water wouldn’t sit there. The
original was a stainless tube silver soldered to the tank top fitting
straight down to within 1/2″ of the bottom.

Bob

On Wed, Jul 2, 2014 at 7:29 AM, Alan via maillist
wrote:

I finally got the fuel tank out last Friday. Pulled the tank out and
loaded it in my truck by myself. Yikes…..
The old tank slipped out pretty easy once I removed the Racor filter
that was mounted on the side of the engine compartment. The water muffler
also had to be removed along with the coolant hoses that go to the hot
water heater. oh, yeah, the two aft motor mounts also had to be removed.
Then it slipped right out and up thru the companionway. The bottom of the
tank had a small pin hole leak, with several bubbles in the paint??
epoxy? that look like they were about to pop thru.

I pulled the fuel pick up tube out. It is a piece of SS tubing about 6
inches long. Attached to the tube is a rubber fuel hose (epoxied on) with a
brass fitting on the end of the hose. The total length is 34 inches. Mind
you, the tank is only 23 1/2 inches deep!! I would have thought it should
have been like, 23 inches?
The whole cradle that the tank rests on is infused with diesel.
Actually, it’s seeping out of the wood. Some of the plywood strips on the
bottom needs to replaced. They are3/4′ x 6″ wide x 34″ with some kind of
beam stiffener attached to the bottom. Hard to tell what kind of wood it
is, maybe teak or mahogany? Probably replace with plywood and oak, covered
in West epoxy.
I’ll have to a try and figure out how to clean up the diesel soaked
wood that can’t be replaced – Ideas?

As I had stated before, one of the reasons I chose this hull from the
3 others I had looked at back in 2003, was that the tank was supposed to
have been replaced in 2000. Looking at the sticker attached to the tank
thru the gauge viewing port in the cockpit, you can see the sticker, and it
looked like it was a “00”. Plus what the PO had stated. After I pulled the
tank, it clearly says “80”. So I guess I got screwed.

More coming soon
Alan
UNABATED #140
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—
Bob Fine
s/v Pelican
Pearson 424 Hull #8
http://thesailinglife.blogspot.com
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I figure it was so long, it had to be curled up and sucking all the crap right from the bottom of the tank.
Alan

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 2, 2014, at 7:46 AM, Robert Fine via maillist wrote:

The pickup wasn’t original. The reason it was so long was so that it would
pick up off the bottom of the tank so water wouldn’t sit there. The
original was a stainless tube silver soldered to the tank top fitting
straight down to within 1/2″ of the bottom.

Bob

On Wed, Jul 2, 2014 at 7:29 AM, Alan via maillist
wrote:

I finally got the fuel tank out last Friday. Pulled the tank out and
loaded it in my truck by myself. Yikes…..
The old tank slipped out pretty easy once I removed the Racor filter
that was mounted on the side of the engine compartment. The water muffler
also had to be removed along with the coolant hoses that go to the hot
water heater. oh, yeah, the two aft motor mounts also had to be removed.
Then it slipped right out and up thru the companionway. The bottom of the
tank had a small pin hole leak, with several bubbles in the paint??
epoxy? that look like they were about to pop thru.

I pulled the fuel pick up tube out. It is a piece of SS tubing about 6
inches long. Attached to the tube is a rubber fuel hose (epoxied on) with a
brass fitting on the end of the hose. The total length is 34 inches. Mind
you, the tank is only 23 1/2 inches deep!! I would have thought it should
have been like, 23 inches?
The whole cradle that the tank rests on is infused with diesel.
Actually, it’s seeping out of the wood. Some of the plywood strips on the
bottom needs to replaced. They are3/4′ x 6″ wide x 34″ with some kind of
beam stiffener attached to the bottom. Hard to tell what kind of wood it
is, maybe teak or mahogany? Probably replace with plywood and oak, covered
in West epoxy.
I’ll have to a try and figure out how to clean up the diesel soaked
wood that can’t be replaced – Ideas?

As I had stated before, one of the reasons I chose this hull from the
3 others I had looked at back in 2003, was that the tank was supposed to
have been replaced in 2000. Looking at the sticker attached to the tank
thru the gauge viewing port in the cockpit, you can see the sticker, and it
looked like it was a “00”. Plus what the PO had stated. After I pulled the
tank, it clearly says “80”. So I guess I got screwed.

More coming soon
Alan
UNABATED #140
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maillist mailing list

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—
Bob Fine
s/v Pelican
Pearson 424 Hull #8
http://thesailinglife.blogspot.com
_______________________________________________
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https://pearson424.org/mailman/listinfo/maillist_pearson424.org

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That’s great Alan. Sounds like someone replaced that pick-up tube while the
tank was still in place. Mine was a straight piece of copper tubing 23 1/2″
long with a 45 degree cut at the bottom It was soldered into a SS fitting
at the top of the tank. I replaced mine with an aluminum tube the same as
the copper. The copper was showing signs of corrosion.

The aft end of my crate (angled part) was a bit diesel soaked but still
good. All the neoprene strips separating the tank from the wood were
fastened with bronze staples. I removed all of them and replaced with
aluminum tacks. The very bottom of the crate I completely removed the
saturated plywood strips etc and replaced the whole bottom with one 2×6 PT
plank sitting across wedge cut pieces that I epoxied and fastened in place
to the hull. After the tank was back in place I replaced the forward end of
the crate and through bolted it instead of screwing.

If you take the time to clean up the outside of the tank as I did using an
orbital sander with 100 grit, you might find as I did that only the bottom
of the tank shows any damage. To save about $800 you can carefully cut the
bottom of the tank off with a good jig saw and a metal blade, then clean
and sand the insides as well to see if any corrosion has creeped up the
sides of the tank. If not, all you need is to have a job shop weld a new
piece on the bottom. Mine cost me $235 for the new bottom and the pick-up
tube.

Good luck,
Ken

On Wed, Jul 2, 2014 at 7:29 AM, Alan via maillist
wrote:

I finally got the fuel tank out last Friday. Pulled the tank out and
loaded it in my truck by myself. Yikes…..
The old tank slipped out pretty easy once I removed the Racor filter
that was mounted on the side of the engine compartment. The water muffler
also had to be removed along with the coolant hoses that go to the hot
water heater. oh, yeah, the two aft motor mounts also had to be removed.
Then it slipped right out and up thru the companionway. The bottom of the
tank had a small pin hole leak, with several bubbles in the paint??
epoxy? that look like they were about to pop thru.

I pulled the fuel pick up tube out. It is a piece of SS tubing about 6
inches long. Attached to the tube is a rubber fuel hose (epoxied on) with a
brass fitting on the end of the hose. The total length is 34 inches. Mind
you, the tank is only 23 1/2 inches deep!! I would have thought it should
have been like, 23 inches?
The whole cradle that the tank rests on is infused with diesel.
Actually, it’s seeping out of the wood. Some of the plywood strips on the
bottom needs to replaced. They are3/4′ x 6″ wide x 34″ with some kind of
beam stiffener attached to the bottom. Hard to tell what kind of wood it
is, maybe teak or mahogany? Probably replace with plywood and oak, covered
in West epoxy.
I’ll have to a try and figure out how to clean up the diesel soaked
wood that can’t be replaced – Ideas?

As I had stated before, one of the reasons I chose this hull from the
3 others I had looked at back in 2003, was that the tank was supposed to
have been replaced in 2000. Looking at the sticker attached to the tank
thru the gauge viewing port in the cockpit, you can see the sticker, and it
looked like it was a “00”. Plus what the PO had stated. After I pulled the
tank, it clearly says “80”. So I guess I got screwed.

More coming soon
Alan
UNABATED #140
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Already have a new tank being fabricated. with my luck if I had the bottom replaced, it would start leaking someplace else.
As far as the neoprene strips are concerned, mine were stapled in but some out of place. according to an article on the web, the neoprene should be 5200ed to the tank so that there’s no airspace for possible crevice corrosion.
Alan

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 2, 2014, at 8:17 AM, Ken Page wrote:

That’s great Alan. Sounds like someone replaced that pick-up tube while the tank was still in place. Mine was a straight piece of copper tubing 23 1/2″ long with a 45 degree cut at the bottom It was soldered into a SS fitting at the top of the tank. I replaced mine with an aluminum tube the same as the copper. The copper was showing signs of corrosion.

The aft end of my crate (angled part) was a bit diesel soaked but still good. All the neoprene strips separating the tank from the wood were fastened with bronze staples. I removed all of them and replaced with aluminum tacks. The very bottom of the crate I completely removed the saturated plywood strips etc and replaced the whole bottom with one 2×6 PT plank sitting across wedge cut pieces that I epoxied and fastened in place to the hull. After the tank was back in place I replaced the forward end of the crate and through bolted it instead of screwing.

If you take the time to clean up the outside of the tank as I did using an orbital sander with 100 grit, you might find as I did that only the bottom of the tank shows any damage. To save about $800 you can carefully cut the bottom of the tank off with a good jig saw and a metal blade, then clean and sand the insides as well to see if any corrosion has creeped up the sides of the tank. If not, all you need is to have a job shop weld a new piece on the bottom. Mine cost me $235 for the new bottom and the pick-up tube.

Good luck,
Ken

On Wed, Jul 2, 2014 at 7:29 AM, Alan via maillist wrote:
I finally got the fuel tank out last Friday. Pulled the tank out and loaded it in my truck by myself. Yikes…..
The old tank slipped out pretty easy once I removed the Racor filter that was mounted on the side of the engine compartment. The water muffler also had to be removed along with the coolant hoses that go to the hot water heater. oh, yeah, the two aft motor mounts also had to be removed. Then it slipped right out and up thru the companionway. The bottom of the tank had a small pin hole leak, with several bubbles in the paint?? epoxy? that look like they were about to pop thru.

I pulled the fuel pick up tube out. It is a piece of SS tubing about 6 inches long. Attached to the tube is a rubber fuel hose (epoxied on) with a brass fitting on the end of the hose. The total length is 34 inches. Mind you, the tank is only 23 1/2 inches deep!! I would have thought it should have been like, 23 inches?
The whole cradle that the tank rests on is infused with diesel. Actually, it’s seeping out of the wood. Some of the plywood strips on the bottom needs to replaced. They are3/4′ x 6″ wide x 34″ with some kind of beam stiffener attached to the bottom. Hard to tell what kind of wood it is, maybe teak or mahogany? Probably replace with plywood and oak, covered in West epoxy.
I’ll have to a try and figure out how to clean up the diesel soaked wood that can’t be replaced – Ideas?

As I had stated before, one of the reasons I chose this hull from the 3 others I had looked at back in 2003, was that the tank was supposed to have been replaced in 2000. Looking at the sticker attached to the tank thru the gauge viewing port in the cockpit, you can see the sticker, and it looked like it was a “00”. Plus what the PO had stated. After I pulled the tank, it clearly says “80”. So I guess I got screwed.

More coming soon
Alan
UNABATED #140
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Alan
Assuming that Pearson made our boats about the same…

– There was no paint or coating on my old tank.

– The fuel pickup tube was solid all the way to the bottom of the tank.

– The crate was all mahogany boards, no plywood. It was held together with bronze screws and staples.

Looks like someone pulled your old tank and made a hasty repair at some point. I replaced my tank several years ago. It was a PIA to pull the damn thing out. I had to do much of what you listed below.

As long as you have your tank out, consider putting in a remote fuel gauge. That inspection plate in the cockpit sole was stupid. You don’t have to mount the gauge on your instrument cluster. You could even put it below deck somewhere.

When you replace the thing, keep the tank from contacting any metal fasteners.

Good luck with your project.

Rich

Post generated from Pearson424 Forum using Mail2Forum

I was just outside looking at my old tank. upon further review I believe that this is the original tank. half-inch of the bottom was cut off and replaced. I say that because of the dimension of the bottom of the tank is 7 inches rather than 5 inches like two of the drawings I’ve seen online. plus the tank is a half inch shorter than the drawings I’ve seen. also the weld across the bottom does not look like the other factory welds. So it looks like I’ve got the original tank although a half inch shorter. the PO was right, he did replace the tank or rather he meant just the bottom of the tank.
That explains the plywood in the cradle and the hose for the fuel pick up.
Alan

Sent from my iPhone

On Jul 2, 2014, at 8:43 AM, Page Two via maillist wrote:

Yes, I had very slight signs of crevice corrosion where the neoprene came in contact with the aluminum so after replacing them with the tacks I also glued (polyurethane) additional strips to the tank. I had the room because my tank was a bit smaller after cutting and welding.
Have fun,
Ken

---

Ken and Vicky # 91……Writing a New Chapter Page by Page in an Old Book.

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