'90 Maxum 2100SR - restoration & conversion

[chevymaher]

I tried that. Once the boat was low enough the cherry picker wouldnt go under the trailer.

 

[PC on the Bayou]

Went to HF and picked up an oscillating multi-tool to help with floor removal. What are the best blades that you guys have had luck with for cutting the old fiberglass and wood?

 

[Chris51280]

Actually, an angle grinder with a cutoff blade works like butter and lasts long. Just be carefully and do not twist the grinder in any way. Use gloves and face shield and long sleeved shirt. This is for the fiberglass edges.
use a sawzall for the other demo. Carefully not to cut through the hull.

 

[PC on the Bayou]

Been working a few hours here and there cutting out the old floor and have the vast majority out now. The saws-all, side grinder with diamond blade, and oscillating tool with carbide blade have worked very well. I love the precision capability of the oscillating tool.

I'm starting to get a pretty good look at my stringers. They were well encapsulated with fiberglass and seem to be very solid except in one or two spots where old bulkheads were attached. I may have to do some minor repair to them rather than a complete replacement. More inspection will tell for sure.

After getting the rest of the floor out, I'm going to move forward with pulling the engine. Thanks, everyone, for all of the ideas on how to get it out. I'll fill everyone in on the final method used; although, I'm hoping to be able to use my engine lift using several ideas on how to get the height needed.

I can now see my old fuel tank and have a question about it. I haven't had any issues with leaking or anything, but the top of the old tank (plastic) is no longer flat. It seems to be sunk in a bit in a few places. Being that it is a 30 year old plastic tank, I'm wondering how hard I should consider replacing it?

 

[PC on the Bayou]

I was researching the fuel tank. The top of my existing tank looks like it is warped; so, it may just be from expansion of the poly over the years. It appears to be a very tight fit between the stringers.

My current tank is 30 gallons. Mueller makes a 28 gallon one that may fit well in the current location. The current spot between the stringers is roughly 25 inches wide. I will see the exact dimensions when I get the old tank empty and removed.

I am thinking that with the age of the current tank that I probably should strongly consider replacement anyway. It may be a mute point if I damage the tank when removing it anyway.

If anyone has suggestions or recommendations, they are appreciated.

 

[PC on the Bayou]

Still researching and thinking about my fuel tank. I'm pretty sure I'm going to go ahead and replace the tank during the build. I don't like the fact that it is warped and old. Fuel isn't something I am comfortable taking chances with. My concern is that the number of belly tanks available that will fit in my tank location are limited.

I found a Moeller tank (model 032528 / 27 gallons) that is 24.5 inches wide; but I'm concerned that it wouldn't leave enough expansion room between my stringers which are around 25-25.25 inches apart. There's also a Moeller 032552 (52 gallons) that is narrower @ 24 inches but longer and a bit deeper. The length doesn't bother me because I'm not concerned with reducing or eliminating the ski locker; but the height would mean that either I would have to raise my deck a few inches or make a "high spot" above the tank in the deck. The 52 gallons would be nice, though for extended run time although heavier.

Anyone with thoughts or advice on the tank?

 

[Chris51280]

I would go with the smaller one. I have about the same tank size in AL. Mine has a flat bottom. The 50gal adds weight when full. There should also be a bulkhead separating the ski locker to the tank. You can leave the end open to the top where the hose goes. don't have to raise the deck. pictures would help

 

[Mad Props]

You shouldn't need that much expansion room for the tank. The smaller tank should be fine. In theory, with a vent line, your tank shouldn't need to expand at all, but if your vent line gets clogged then you will need some expansion room,however, it will want to expand upward mostly since that will be the easiest direction for the tank to flex.

 

[PC on the Bayou]

pictures would help

Having trouble getting pictures to upload. Will keep trying, though. There's a thread going about this ongoing problem with the forum.

When I read the Moeller information on their poly tanks, they recommend 3% expansion allowance on the tanks for initial installation. Apparently the reason is that the poly tanks "absorb" a bit of fuel and expand a bit.

Once I get the old tank out, I'll get some better measurements and be able to get a good look at that section of stringer. If it really is 25-1/4 between my stringers, I would lean toward the smaller tank. That measurement does allow for the 3% expansion (barely).

 

[PC on the Bayou]

With cutting, chiseling, prying, and tugging, I finally got the old fuel tank out. It is very misshaped. Warped on both top and bottom.

Still can't get pictures to upload, but I'm sure that I'm going with a replacement rather than trying to reuse this old warped thing. Just have to find one that will fit in the belly well.

I'm glad that I got it out of there. It is NASTY under the old tank with filth. At least I can now clean it up and do some more inspections of the stringers. The bulkheads are definitely toast (they weren't encapsulated). As soon as I can get pictures to upload, I'll post them so that you can all see them and give pointers.

 

[Chris51280]

sounds like a plan. hope they fix the picture issue soon.

 

[PC on the Bayou]

Haven't had a lot of luck locating the 27 gallon Moeller tank that would fit between my stringers. Does anyone know of other tank manufacturers that may make a belly tank with similar dimensions?

What does everyone think about maybe raising my floor a few inches to allow for room for a more rectangular tank?

From what I read, I really want to keep my tank low between the stringers as opposed to relocating it above the floor.

 

[PC on the Bayou]

Still in the destruction mode. Planning to remove the out drive and engine this weekend. Then to get on to completion of deck removal and inspection of stringers, engine mounts, and transom.

been looking at fiberglass supplies. Like a lot of you have pointed out, US Composites seems to have the best overall online prices. I did find a local supplier (one of the benefits of the gulf coast) that may be a more cost effective supplier when you consider shipping costs (especially on resin).

as far as the fuel tank goes, I am considering widening the area between the stringers gets a couple inches to give me a better fit and more options. Any reasons why this wouldn't be a viable solution?

 

[PC on the Bayou]

Took off out-drive and removed engine this morning. Everything went smoothly. Front motor mount bolts looked pretty rusty; but they came loose quite easily.

Turns out that my engine lift picked the engine up just enough to get it over the transom with the front of the boat jacked as high as it would go. Had to give it a tad bit of help to get the bottom of the oil pan over.

Now on to finishing deck removal and thorough transom and stringer inspections.

 

[PC on the Bayou]

Well, picture attachments are working again I see. So, here are a couple pictures of the deck removal progress to date. You can see in the first picture, that there is only a small section in the bow that still needs to be rough cut out. The second picture shows looking toward the stern showing the fuel tank bay and bilge / engine area. Engine removed per my previous post.

Once I get the rest of the rough cutting done, I will move her out into the open and pressure wash inside before moving on to cutting / grinding out the rest of the deck interfaces. Once clean, I'll be able to get a good look at the stringers.

 

[PC on the Bayou]

Now that my old fuel tank has been out of the boat for a while, it appears that most of the deformity has gone away. I'm thinking that this is due to the shrinking of the poly as the old fuel evaporates out of it.

When inspecting the tank, I found that there is a gouge in the edge of the tank. It doesn't appear to go all the way through (to be verified with a pressure test). This brings up a question.

It would be nice to save the $$ on a replacement and be able to use the old tanks; but I will not do it at a safety risk if the gouge can't be fixed securely where I don't end up with a fuel leak. Fuel in the bilge is an absolute no-no.

Is there any proven, acceptable, & safe way to repair such a gouge in the tank using an epoxy or something else?

 

[PC on the Bayou]

Sorry . . . duplicate post delted.

 

[briangcc]

IF it were me, I'd be replacing the tank. I don't need a "what if" cropping up especially when dealing with gasoline and I/O's. Going boom! isn't on my bucket list.

 

[PC on the Bayou]

IF it were me, I'd be replacing the tank. I don't need a "what if" cropping up especially when dealing with gasoline and I/O's. Going boom! isn't on my bucket list.

I'm leaning really hard that way for sure. I was just curious if it is even possible.

 

[PC on the Bayou]

Working on more cutting out old fiberglass & wood and performing inspections.

Now that I have the vast majority of the floor out, I'm looking hard at the stringers & motor mounts.

I'm certain that I have some replacement to do at least on the rear (stern) half of the stringers. The fiberglass was dis-bonded from the stringers and motor mounts around the bilge area. Now that I'm cutting that away, I'm seeing all of the rot in the stringers back there. Pictures are attached.



The motor mount main timbers (looks like 6x6, see pictures) are also significantly rotted. I really don't like how they are made anyway with a piece of 2x4 on top of the timber to allow additional height for the motor mount. Plus, the motor mount lag bolts are in there crooked.



I've already had some discussion in this thread about the fuel tank compartment (forward of the bilge). Since I'm pretty sure I'm going to be replacing the fuel tank, I'm going to need to widen out the stringers there a bit to allow for some extra clearance for a new tank. Seems most new poly tanks are needing more room than I had in there. Even the old one shows signs that it was too tight in the area. I'm going to be sketching up some new stringer layouts in the near future and will share them.

Here is a picture of the stringers going forward from the fuel tank compartment through the ski locker area. These all look solid so far. The only exception is where the bulkheads attached (you can see the two spots in the picture. The bulkheads were notched into the stringers and weren't encapsulated fully with fiberglass. I have to look at these areas more closely to make sure there's no rot there. Since I'm going to be replacing the aft half of the stringers, I may go ahead and replace these too. I don't like how they were notched for the bulkheads and they don't look like they would be too difficult to replace.