The well traveled 1979 Starcraft 18' V5 SS

[Decker83]

Great looking paint job..
Fifty Shades of Gray, huh.. I'd be real careful were I took her with that name.. (LOL)
Hope you get the gas tank problem solved real soon..

 

[jbcurt00]

Paint looks great Rob, excellent work!

 

[CBGale2]

Wished you were near me Water, have a marine salvage yard not far away with a small mountain of used tanks.

 

[budski]

Looks great Rob, very nice choice of color.

 

[classiccat]

Flying through this build Agua! Lookin' good man! :thumb:

 

[Watermann]

Thanks for coming by my dry dock guys, your encouragement helps keep my ambition up and going.

I guess I've only been working on it since March, but it seems longer :lol:

Fuel tank yeah I need one, still thinking about my options and scouring the internet. Heck yeah Charlie having a marine bone yard near me would be great. I'm contemplating cutting the bottom out of the old tank myself and seeing what it looks like and then decide to have it repaired or a new one built.

 

[dozerII]

Thanks for coming by my dry dock guys, your encouragement helps keep my ambition up and going.

I guess I've only been working on it since March, but it seems longer :lol:

Fuel tank yeah I need one, still thinking about my options and scouring the internet. Heck yeah Charlie having a marine bone yard near me would be great. I'm contemplating cutting the bottom out of the old tank myself and seeing what it looks like and then decide to have it repaired or a new one built.

Hey Rob cutting out the bottom yourself for a look see is a good idea, just leave a 1/2" close to the edge for the welder to use as a flange, then you will have to cut the welds on the baffles as well.

 

[Patfromny]

Looks great Wm. Swoosh looks great. Maybe call her Grey Goose. FSG is pretty good though.

 

[Watermann]

Hey Rob cutting out the bottom yourself for a look see is a good idea, just leave a 1/2" close to the edge for the welder to use as a flange, then you will have to cut the welds on the baffles as well.

I was thinking of using my metal cutting blade on the skillsaw to plunge cut that bottom out, nice even line and take about 10 minutes. Admiral is freaking out at the thought of it. I told her not to worry aluminum doesn't spark when cutting it, it's welding the tank that can get in your face if not careful. Had to promise not to do the cutting in the garage and rinse the tank out 3 times first. :lol:

 

[StarTed]

It's not the sparking of the aluminum that could get you. Does your skill saw have sparks in its motor?

How about purging the tank with exhaust from a running engine? Could hook up some tubing to the tank filler and purge for a while before beginning. You don't want a spark from the skill saw motor to flash back into the tank. Purge out the oxygen from the tank and you should be good to go.

Keep purging while you cut.

Hope to see you later.

 

[StarTed]

By the way, I've cut apart many green propane cylinders using a hand hack saw. Never had a problem going slow and easy.

 

[Watermann]

I was thinking after washing the tank out thoroughly that I could use dry ice inside the tank to purge it. Not sure I'm down the idea of pumping car exhaust that adds more hydro carbon and the possibility of unburned fuel in the exhaust.

 

[StarTed]

I like the dry ice idea. I're only heard of the use of car exhaust for soldering on gas tanks. I'd still be very cautious of that.

What about purging with argon? It's heavier than air.

My brother had the bright idea of soldering on a car gas tank by washing it out and filling it with water. He filled it and plugged the fill tube. Then he held the solder area up by holding the gas tank between his legs. The plug fell out and the tank drained without him noticing. The resulting whump made the tank round and left him standing spread legged. Needless ton say the tank would no longer fit so he had to buy another used one. Luckily we survived our youth.

 

[Watermann]

Oh jeez, your brother is darn lucky he didn't get self inflicted gender reassignment :lol:

 

[dozerII]

Oh jeez, your brother is darn lucky he didn't get self inflicted gender reassignment :lol:

Thank tank hasn't had gas in it for a least 8 years, does it even smell Rob

 

[Watermann]

Thank tank hasn't had gas in it for a least 8 years, does it even smell Rob

Nope, not a whiff of gas smell coming from it.

 

[Patfromny]

When I was younger I worked for a car restoration shop. We sold parts and made emblems. Restored more than a few cars as well. We went upstate for a weekend to junkyard hop and buy parts. We found an old Firebird and agreed on a price for all the parts we wanted. They said they would disassemble and for us to come back in a few hours. We roll back up and the two guys are all red faced and wide eyed. We bought the tail panel and they were cutting it out without taking the tank out. Boy oh boy was that a mistake. The tank went round and pretty much blew the tail panel off. The trunk floor was touching the sheet metal in front of the deck lid and the rear quarters were blown out several inches. To this day we laugh about how lucky they were and wish we would have gotten there 10 minutes earlier to witness the debacle. No one was hurt and the two guys thought is was the funniest thing they ever experienced. The car was actually in a pond and the tank filled with water so they thought it would be safe.

 

[FrankenCub]

I've welded and soldered quite a few tanks when I was younger by filling them with water but never liked it, the water always seemed to mess up the weld/solder joint. After that I went to running exhaust in the tank for a good 15 minutes before repairs. That had always worked out well. The combo of heat to drive out any moisture or gas residue and CO2 to drive out the O2 never left me with the fuzzy feeling of the big whoosh.

 

[Candutch]

I would think that a tank that has been dry for a long time and left open would have allowed all of the vapor to escape. It is after all only the vapors that are flammable and cause the explosion. If it were me Rob I would probably blow some compressed air through the fuel line or breather fittings to see if that forces out any possible trapped vapors, if I didn't smell anything I would then stand behind the corner of my fence or garage and from a bit of distance put an open flame over that fill neck and then if nothing happens I would think it would be safe. Obviously I'd wear proper protective gear just in case But that's me, I don't always do everything properly and/or to the strictest safety standards but I am careful and kinda think things through for a few seconds before doing them.

 

[Watermann]

Yeah I'm too chicken to mess with the thing actually, I can't bring myself to cut into it. :lol:

The possibility of pain, suffering or death is enough for me to back away from the thing since those options aren't very appealing to me the cost of shop repair is looking better all the time. :facepalm:

I'm still messing about, working on filling dents and holes on the consoles, one had a rusted flip top ashtray that was mounted on the top. Ah the good old days of the 70's where everyone smoked cigarettes everywhere.

Decided to cut up some odd ball pieces of left over 1/2" marine ply to make gunnel backers where the cleats go and under the splashwell's big flying nun wings. I think I'll add some angle AL brackets for support from the gunnel and the splashwell wall.

Spar and marine-tex drying is fun. :02.47-tranquillity:

Good thing I was outside cutting and brushing on some spar because a pair of osprey with their young came and circled my koi pond. I was able to fend them off after they circled a few times. I would hate to lose my 11 year old fish, he's like the best pet ever... he doesn't make noise except when eating.