SoCal Jet Boats
Tech Talk => Projects => Topic started by: tkdcal on July 21, 2008, 07:18:38 PM
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Lol, Hi everyone. Just joined the forum cuz I just bought an old jet boat, woohoo! I'm not particularly new to boating, but I've never had a jet before, and never had a boat quite this old either, its a 1974 Sleekcraft mini daycruiser. I hasn't run in quite some time as far as I can tell and I think I'm ok with prepping the olds 455 before attempting to fire it up, but I'm a little concerned about the fuel tank. A buddy of mine has an older jet and I guess the fuel tank is molded fiberglass??? It was leaking, flooded his bilge with gas and cooked his engine compartment when it went off.
Are fiberglass tanks common? I've had stainless, galvanized and plastic, but never heard of fiberglass tanks before. If it does have a glass tank, how can I tell, and is there a way to test it for leaks before I assume everything is hunky dory and take it out for a spin?
Been there, done that with old rotton steel tanks before. Great site by the way, I've learned a lot already in the short time I've been looking around here.
Regards,
Cal
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I think, given there age and the changing formulations of gasoline the safe money is on aluminum tanks, the fiberglass tanks I have seen and replaced in recent years don't really "leak" but they seem to "weep", like the glass became porus.
Gasoline has gone through numerous changes, alchohol, MTBE (Methyl. Tolune. Butyl. Ether) and other "magic" ingredients have been known to permiate through hoses, fuel pump diaphrams, plastics, and who knows what else. I dont know how well the fiberglass tanks were made back in 1974, but put it into perspective, thats 34 years :-\
Maybe use it for now and see how it goes, but the "cheap insurance" would be newer aluminum fuel tank(s). Just my .02
That little voice in my head is "right" an awful lot :-[ If it feels wrong, well, you know.
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welcome to the site cal, great information in here, just watch out for the smartasses..lol, its all in fun...send some pics of the sleed when u get a chance...we dont care if its finished or not..we all got projects 8)
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Welcome ;D
I was recently looking for fuel tanks for my Hondo because I had an aluminum one crack, and found that aluminum tanks are becoming hard to find. I've got a line on a set of stainless tanks through this site that I plan on picking up soon.
If you can get a couple pics of what style tank it is there is a good chance that someone here can help you get it.
Enjoy the site.
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Are fiberglass tanks common? I've had stainless, galvanized and plastic, but never heard of fiberglass tanks before. If it does have a glass tank, how can I tell, and is there a way to test it for leaks before I assume everything is hunky dory and take it out for a spin?
Been there, done that with old rotton steel tanks before. Great site by the way, I've learned a lot already in the short time I've been looking around here.
Regards,
Cal
BTW welcome to this game called "life of a boatowner" :)
I just noticed that you don't know what you have for a fuel tank(s). If the tank is at all accessible (Not under the floor), just poke around with a hammer handle and listen, if it gives you a dead thump, plastic or glass, if it rings, either steel or aluminum, steel is easy, just get a magnet, otherwise its aluminum or stainless.
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Call IMCO for a quote on aluminum tanks! It is not as expensive as you think.
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Call IMCO for a quote on aluminum tanks! It is not as expensive as you think.
Trust me, I know! Call Imco!
here is the order form:
http://www.imcomarine.com/pages/images2/howtoorder.pdf
My cousin just got quoted $475 for a set of new aluminum custom tanks for his wriedt. He had fiberglass tanks in them that we knew leaked, but didnt know how bad it was until we pulled them out. BOTH of the fill necks on the tanks were broken off completely....so all the gas would slosh out. what do you expect for a 39 year old boat?
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Well, I got my boat home... project is hardly a strong enough word to describe all the work I have to do. Me and my son yanked out all the interior pieces, rotten carpet etc. Thankfully it has a pair of nice fuel tanks under the gunwales. The Olds 455 hasn't been started in 15 years, so I think I won't even bother trying and just pull it and go through it. One thing that seems a little odd to me is the crack in the water pump plate. How the heck can THAT happen? As far as I know, there's nothing behind it, just a void where the water pump impeller usually lives. Here's a link to the photo: http://www.socaljetboats.com/cpg/displayimage.php?album=161&pos=4 (http://www.socaljetboats.com/cpg/displayimage.php?album=161&pos=4) Does it seem possible that the cam sprocket got loose and punched through the timing cover and broke out the pump cover too? Seems unlikely to me. Maybe water in there froze and pushed it out... dunno.. seems kinda weird. Any ideas?
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Froze...where the hell did you buy it from? I was thinking along the lines of running it on the trailer and then dropped it in the COLD water and "popping" that plate.
But what the F do I know
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ROFL, yeah, I know.. water freezing in there seems unlikely since the boat is from the LA area. But what the hell, it might have seen freezing temps in the last 15 years. I don't remember any, but maybe it did. Thermal shock? Hmm.. maybe. ;)
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My dad kept his boat at my uncles house in Action sp? (near Lancaster) one winter and the water froze in the block and cracked it. It was a long time ago it could have been a colder than normal winter
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I dont think the cam bolt would do it. I had the cam bolt back off on one of my boats before, and it bent the metal and broke the 1 inch chunk of aluminum right down the center...
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In 1992, our shop replaced 138 engines, from 152" Chevy four cylinders to 460" Fords, a real shame... when we recycled all of the leftover parts, we turned in 1200# of pistons. All the cranks and rods were sold to my dads machine shop, I still have a bunch of stuff.