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

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

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.

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?

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

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

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.