1995 Glastron ssv 195 Fuel Tank removal/repair

[mfrederick]

I have a 95 Glastron ssv 195 with 4.3 Mercruiser. Fuel tank got contaminated with water and needs to be thoroughly cleaned. Does anybody know if we can carefully cut the carpet (hopefully where it won't show), then remove the plywood above the tank and remove the fuel tank itself?

 

[havoc_squad]

Old or well worn glued down boat carpet is practically impossible to precision cut and remove without damaging it or destroying it, so no you are not going to be able to save the carpet on the boat.

The only possible chance you have is if you replaced the boat carpet with a new version within the last two years or less and still can order the same exact replacement carpet color. If you have NEW or newer carpet, it is possible to cut out a section neatly and replace it with new. I've done it and you wouldn't tell it was there.

In short, you're going to be stuck with the following options:

1. Remove the old carpet and re-carpet the entire boat
2. Remove the old carpet and have the boat floor gelcoated or duracoated
3. Remove the old carpet for the repair area and patch it with new which usually looks like crap.
4. Stare at uncarpeted section where the gas tank was and is fiberglassed over

 

[Rickmerrill]

Not speaking from experience but I'd look around the internet for ways to clean it out in place if at all possible. Hopefully you have an access port and can get the fuel line off ( which ain't easy), jack the front up as far as possible and use a gas safe pump to get it out, rinse and repeat until perfectly clean. The pros use filters to pull out the water and sediment and recirculate until clean. I say this because it's going to be a good bit of work to cut out the deck, get the tank out, and then repair the deck and carpet. During my restore the tank was so wedged in that I had to cut the forward bulkhead out so I could get a big pry bar under the tank and work it loose, so just having a hole big enough to get the tank through might not be enough. You never know what problems or surprises are lurking below. I'm sure there are ways to clean that tank out without removing it, just don't know what they are. Hopefully someone can help out.