The well traveled 1979 Starcraft 18' V5 SS

[Patfromny]

Otherwise, Cutting the elbow off sounded like a good idea. You will lose your cool barbed fitting but that's about it. I'm sure the coal epoxy will withstand that. At least it will fit below deck. Depends on if you are willing to wait for a new tank or not.

 

[dozerII]

Great looking tank Rob, can't believe they screwed that up. After the wait and expense this just sucks.

 

[BWR1953]

I would recommend waiting till Moeller makes it right. You paid good money and they are responsible.

 

[classiccat]

Crud :-( Make'em accountable...expeditiously!

 

[Watermann]

Yeah I was pretty deflated when I saw that neck, then pissed and now I'm in the how can I make it work mode. I can see Moeller saying that it's my baby since I literally had to sign off on the tank build and send the signed form back to them. "Sorry but you should've noticed that." I do blame myself more than them as it was my responsibility to make sure everything was right before I signed off on it.

I was debating on using one run of vinyl deck covering rather than wrapping each piece. So that would mean I would need a plate over the fittings at each end which would allow for that extra height. Fueling may be a issue too as the filler hose would have a slight upward slope right before going into the tank but that's about all I can think of. as a down side. I'm also considering if I have enough room under the tank to drop the supports down the needed amount. I may pull it back out and do some rivet removal to see.

 

[budski]

I think you're right about Moeller telling you that you signed off on it I think I would take to an aluminum welder and get it shortened, if possible, other wise anything you do with the floor, you would be working around that fill neck and and it will never the same.

 

[Patfromny]

I would have to say that if you gave them the correct overall height to begin with then it is on them. I understand your want to get this thing moving but I would fight this considering what you have invested. Overall height should have remained the same from your initial blueprint or order sheet. They screwed up. Not you. Unless you didn't give them overall height. If you want to get moving, just cut the bend off and be done with it. No sense building around a bump. A bump that will increase once you put the filler hose onto it.

 

[StarTed]

That is one of those jobs that is difficult but not impossible. You just have to figure out a way to make it fit.

I'd look into cutting off the filler if practical. Maybe an internal pipe just small enough to fit inside snugly could work to fasten on what you want. A good welding shop should be able to make whatever changes you need. Most likely you'll have to do the detailed planning.

Now is the time to do any welding before any fuel gets inside and the situation becomes more difficult.

JMHO

 

[BMerr509]

Sorry to hear about this tank issue Rob, any idea why they don't put the filler on the front/back of the tank rather than the top? i always wondered this, from the standpoint of engineering, i see no issue with it being on the side. Most of us have much room on the front/back of the tank rather than the top of it. You'll figure it out regardless

 

[Watermann]

I decided to make the necessary cut out above the filler and vent so that they can be accessed since I'll be laying the vinyl in one run over the deck. I would need to anyway as it's not a good idea to have no access to the fittings and sender. This will give the filler the headroom it needs and won't cost me another $100 added onto the cost of the tank for welding and fabrication to cut the neck down 1/2".

I added a 3" wide boxed beam of AL to span across from the deck supports on the aft side of the filler fitting so there won't be as much flex to the deck in that area. I have some .125 AL that will cover the area over lapping to add strength and put some non skid finish on it. This is the best I can come up with without fighting, wasting time or spending more money on this tank debacle.

 

[will w.]

Motor looks great WM. So does that tank! Hope you get her figured out.

 

[Patfromny]

I'm not sure how important this is or if it even matters but I was always told to stagger the double hose clamp. Something about uneven clamp pressure under the screw. Might have been an old wives tail but I have always staggered just in case.

 

[dozerII]

I'm not sure how important this is or if it even matters but I was always told to stagger the double hose clamp. Something about uneven clamp pressure under the screw. Might have been an old wives tail but I have always staggered just in case.

I was told the same and have always done it.

 

[StarTed]

I also stagger the clamps. It works better for me and the type of clamps I normally use..

By the way, your planned setup looks like you found your solution and it looks good to me. Having later access is a great idea.

Now you're heading down the home stretch. :thumb:

 

[oldhaven]

Good thinking on the access door. You won't even notice it after a few days out on the water, and you may have to get in there to change senders or a hose someday. In the picture I see a slight low point in the what looks like the vent hose. If it is the vent and not the pick up make sure there is a downhill run in it all the way to the tank so no fuel can collect there if it somehow gets into the hose. If you are using a combined fill and vent cap that can happen pretty easily and it makes for an unpleasant fill scenario. The voice of experience here and I have a dead spot on the lawn to prove it.

 

[classiccat]

Awesome recovery there Agua! Solid!

One question that I've always had with these belly-tanks (I still haven't ruled one out for my build)...is there a preferred placement of the pick-up tube (fore vs aft) on these skinny belly tanks? It seems like you'd run out of fuel sooner especially when that massive TOP tries to pop-a-wheelie on it's hole-shot. :noidea:

 

[Watermann]

I'm not sure how important this is or if it even matters but I was always told to stagger the double hose clamp. Something about uneven clamp pressure under the screw. Might have been an old wives tail but I have always staggered just in case.

Yeah Pat that's a perfectly anal thing that I do but the thing is there's an access hatch so staggering the clamps might not be an option if I want to remove them again through the access hole. The front one is tight the 2nd clamp is snug, when the deck panel goes in I'll see how much room I have to turn the back clamp.

The proper way is for the clamps to be opposite of each other and the tightening screw to be facing opposite too. Now that is super anal hose clamping. :lol: Funny thing is the rules only require the filler to be double clamped, not the vent or feed lines.

 

[Watermann]

Awesome recovery there Agua! Solid!

One question that I've always had with these belly-tanks (I still haven't ruled one out for my build)...is there a preferred placement of the pick-up tube (fore vs aft) on these skinny belly tanks? It seems like you'd run out of fuel sooner especially when that massive TOP tries to pop-a-wheelie on it's hole-shot. :noidea:

Yeah you want the fuel pick up on the aft end of the tank like this one has. I had them put the sender there too fore of the pick up.

 

[Watermann]

I'm set to start getting things back together, but I'm leaving next week to do my yearly black powder elk hunting camp out.

A little of what's been going on behind the scenes. Yeap I popped on the 1980 decals.

Speaking of decals, Budski came through for me with the rare and crazy expensive V5, these are fantastic and match perfectly!

 

[oldhaven]

Yeah you want the fuel pick up on the aft end of the tank like this one has. I had them put the sender there too fore of the pick up.

I can verify this. My forward tank gauge and pickup is at the bow end of the tank, and I can have the gauge showing 15 gallons at idle and it will drop 5 or more gallons while at cruise speed due to bow up angle. I can only assume this means that I could starve the motor at speed while still having plenty of fuel in the tank. Your design decision is a good one. This unfortunate circumstance convinced me that my forward tank will be secondary to the leaky aft tank I have to replace, when I get to it, since it has the correct aft arrangement of pickup and gauge. The fill and vent is not in the front though, so it is still not ideal. This means that your original tank problems probably resulted in a better arrangement, if that is any consolation..

Ron