E40 Fuel Tank Replacement
Date: March 12, 2001 I'm evaluating a 1982 E40 and am extremely grateful for this forum. What a shock it would have been to buy her then find water in the fuel tank and wonder what was going on!!!! From these postings I gather that some feel that cutting the tank out in pieces is a good approach. I contacted a local boatyard and the gentleman told me that he had actually performed this task on an E40. However, when I asked what he would bill for this work, he said "I promised myself I'd NEVER do another..." My questions are: My sincere thanks in advance to those who may respond!
Date: March 12, 2001 Is the corrosion problem likely to be less severe for a boat that has spent most of her life in fresh water? Yes, salt water is more corrosive. The key is to keep the tank DRY. If you cut through the keel from the outside, what does that mean for the structural integrity / strength of the keel following the repair? If done properly it can be stronger than the original. At today's yard rates, what is a ballpark estimate of the cost of removing the old tanks and building fiberglass replacements into the keel? very expensive. If built into the keel, are there any pitfalls to avoid in building a fiberglass fuel tank? A while back Practical Sailor answered this question saying as I recall, that it was safe to use the glass hull as a fuel tank. However there were several caveats: 1) They were very concerned about the weight distribution and how it would affect the balance of the boat (the person wanted to put it in the stern area), 2) that the new 'tank' should have baffles in it to keep the fuel from moving around too much, and 3) they would seal the hull from the fuel, although I don't remember with what though. Also, you could potentially have a serious fuel leak in the event of a grounding. Date: March 13, 2001
Mark,
Date: March 13, 2001 Hi, I'm Billy, Julie and I just had to replace the tank in our E32. We opted to cut out a small section of the sole and pull the tank and have a local business remake a tank to those same specs. Then the same contractor that installed our Yanmar, also installed the tank, and did the appropriate plumbing connections.
Date: March 15, 2001 Hi Mark
Date: March 13, 2001 Mark and PJ, Now to your questions: I do not believe the tank is not built into the keel as you can see the front/forward face of the tank.
Date: March 16, 2001 Paul, It cost about $250.00 to pull the tank and the new one cost us $321.00, the install was about $200.00. Some of the cost to pull it was disposal cost for the tank and contents, which was a combination of sludge and diesel fuel. And the cost of install was including all hoses, fittings, and clamps. I know it sounds like a high price all totaled up, but I think it is reasonable, compared to the fine for leaking petroleum products into the sea water. (Not to mention the associated engine trouble if salt-water enters the engine). Good wind and fair weather.
Date: March 16, 2001 Mark,
Date: April 24, 2001 Paul, Mark, et al... A new hand-laid fiberglass tank was used for the replacement...and since the aft water tank was even more porous than the fuel tank, we added 30 gals (approx) to the new fuel tank by using the space previously occupied by the lower section of the water tank. This is a BIG job...and we were happy to have a true fiberglass expert at our disposal. The new tank has 4 baffles, 3 inspection ports (raised 1 inch above the tank deck) and a recessed space for the bilge pump. It was assembled, foamed in place, then glassed in place from inside (to provide a watertight bilge), and about 8 or 9 layers of overlapping fiberglass "Biox" was laid up over the foam. The result is virtually impossible to detect from the outside, and should be stronger than the original keel section. New Poly-something-or-other water tanks are also being fitted. The forward tank having to be cut in half (fore to aft) in order to remove it thru the main hatch. New forward tank(s) sit side-by- side and are plumbed together, with one fill pipe, two vents, and one (T-connection) maifold for taking suction. I have photos which I may eventually scan for the forum. Cost? About $3,000 US for the fuel tank and another $1,000 for three plastic water tanks. I'd do it again in a minute...even though it meant staying "on the hard" for 4 months. Best regards. Date: September 30, 2002 Got an E40 about to replace fuel tank, will take out motor(Perkins), cut out old tank and plan to fiberglass in new tank. any suggestions? Date: October 2, 2002 What we did on our E40 was: It all worked very well Another alternative is cutting out side of keel and pulling tank out sideways. Got a quote for $2500 Met someone who put new tank in hanging locker befind nav station seat and installed more water tanks in the bilge after cutting out the fuel tank. Good luck. Date: October 2, 2002 Just replaced fuel tank 2 months ago, also have mock up made of wood, knocked down, ours had to be cut out in pieces and I'm sure there is no other way. New tank is aluminum and the fit perfect plus put in a different pump to keep bilge dry. If you would like further info. just E-mail us. Date: October 2, 2002 Anita and Stephen, I removed the aluminum tank myself, but I did not remove the engine. My tank is not glassed over, but rather they used 3/4in thick lead plates, about 4in by 15in, dropped in beside the tank on each side to hold the tank in place once it was positioned in the keel. I removed the shower sump from the cross beams below the companionway ladder and then removed the T shaped water tank and then cut the cross beams vertically just wide of the upward extension of the line of the keel. I also cut a section from the engine room front bulkhead wider than the keel and up from its bottom end about 18 inches, specifically to just below the shelf that is mounted in the front of the engine room. Obviously I also removed the parquet floor just forward of this bulkhead; I cut it to the same width. After disconnecting all the hoses and the ground strap, I pulled the tank upward and forward on to the main salon floor, on to an old blanket and lots of newspaper. I had to remove the fittings from the tank to get it out the companionway: it fit with an inch to spare. All this took 10 hours to do. I disposed of the watery fuel in the bottom of the tank (about 3 gallons) and cleaned out the inside of the tank with detergent and grease cutting cleaner and then took a big grinder with a heavy wire wheel to the bottom and sides of the tank. When I finished it looked like Craters of the Moon National Park; there were pin holes everywhere. Not wanting to spend over a grand for a new tank, I MarineTexed all the pitted areas of the tank and then put three coats of fiberglass over that; two layers of glass mat and one of woven roving. A sealer coat of just fiberglass resin topped it off. I used polyester resin strictly because of cost. I wound up with a fiberglass tank with an aluminum liner. When I put the tank back in the boat, it cleared the companionway with 1/2in to spare. It has been back in the boat since 1987 and until 1998 we lived aboard and cruised extensively. It has not leaked at all. Currently I am in a house and completely refinishing the inside of the boat (it is looking really good; the end is in sight). I used the same pieces of the cross beams that I cut out, I just put them back in place and used SS plating to straddle the cuts; it worked great. I have pictures of the whole deal somewhere, and can scan them in and send them to you as an attachment if you wish. The whole deal cost just over $100 and took a week to do it all, about 50 hours of labor. Date: March 1, 2003 I'm afraid the dreaded keel mounted fuel tank on my '81 E40 has begun to leak. My past reading of the forum described a lot of scary and expensive-sounding solutions. I'm hoping to avoid a solution that involves pulling the engine and, I've never been thrilled with the keel tank anyway. Any advice on simply adding a new tank in some other suitable location such as the starboard side locker next to engine room or just forward of the steering quadrant? Any experiences or thoughts for good or ill would be appreciated. Thanks. Date: March 1, 2003 Gary, Enroute back I used up all but about 20 gallons of the fuel in the tank so that I did not have to remove a large amount of fuel; I did remove all that I could pump out via the fuel pickup. I used a small pump attached to the fuel hose that I had removed from the engine and put it in my empty jerry jugs. That left less than 4 gallons of liquid in the tank. I did not want to remove the engine and bed so I decided to take the tank out through the front bulkhead of the engine room. At that time I did not have a genset in the boat. I removed the aft main salon floor board, the "T" shaped water tank, both being too big to get out of the boat (neither would fix through the companionway), and took out the sump tank. I then had to saw the cross ribs out that are located at the step in the cabin sole. The width I cut out is 22 inches for all that I removed (11 inches each side of centerline). I cut the lower part of the cabin sole the same width from the step to the forward engine bulkhead and then cut up the forward engine room bulkhead to a height of 24 inches and then cut horizontally at the 24 inch height so as to remove that section of the forward engine room bulkhead. This gives you access to the front and top front of the fuel tank. Your fuel tank, like mine, should be held in place by a bunch of lead plates, each about 1/2" x 6" x 16", that are dropped in beside each side of the tank. I used a SS rod hooked at one end and with a circular loop at the other end to pull out the lead plates, one at a time. I had my wife use a 4ft 2" x 6" board to leverage the tank away from the keel as I pulled out each plate. She worked through the main engine access doors. Once most all of the plates were out, I removed all the hoses from the tank at the tank fittings and then pulled the tank forward in the keel and then up and out onto the main salon floor. I had to remove the salon table to do this. I did cover the main salon floor first with an old rug remnant and some newspapers. Once in the main salon, I removed the fittings from the tank and then, with help, took it out of the boat through the main companionway. I had previously measured and knew that the tank would clear the companionway with just over an inch to spare. This whole procedure was done in one day, taking 10 hours. The only extra help was from a fellow boater and then only to get the tank out of the boat. The next day I removed the access port on the tank and got the remaining 3-1/2 gallons of "sludge" out of the tank and then washed out the tank with a hose and some heavy duty degreaser. I took a heavy duty grinder with a stiff wire wheel to the tank and "polished" the entire tank, cleaning off all of the corrosion and really shining up the aluminum. The bottom and up each of the four sides for about three inches looked like "Craters of the Moon" national park; the tank was extremely pitted. Looking through the access port with the bottom of the tank facing the sun I counted 16 holes in the center bottom of the tank (1/3 of the total tank bottom) between the inside support bracing. Being "frugal" and not wanting to spend over a grand on a new tank nor wait the month for it to be fabricated, I decided to try and seal the old tank. A chemist friend saw nothing wrong with my fiberglassing over the old tank. I used Marine-tex (wonderful stuff) to fill all the craters on the bottom and the lower sides, fairing it up reasonably smooth. I then applied three layers of woven roving and glass mat, using polyurethane fiberglass, being told that epoxy would be no better for this application. I fiberglassed the tank up to the top, but not on the top. All this took several days because of the curing time involved. While this was going on, I took the time to clean out the entire lower portion of the bilge located in the bottom of the keel. I also cleaned up those lead plates which had been lowest in the keel. I brought the repaired tank back into the boat, clearing the companionway by 3/8 inch because of the fiberglass thickness on the bottom of the tank, reinstalled the tank into the keel using the same lead plates to wedge it in place, and using the leverage of the 2 x 6 as required. Due to the added thickness of the tank, four of the lead plates were not needed. I then reinstalled the tank top fittings, including the access plate, and hooked everything up. I reinstalled the missing parts of the crossbeams (ribs) that I had cut away, using SS plates to bridge the cuts and secure the cut out portion back into place. As this crossbeam takes a compression load, I have had absolutely no structural problem at this site. I also reinstalled the engine room bulkhead simply by using a 1-1/2 inch strip to cover the cut, similar to the panel in the aft cabin that allows for access to the back of the engine. I decided to not reinstall the floor just aft of the step at the original floor level, but rather I put together a teak box with an open back (the side facing the engine room) and used the floor as the top of the box, but recessed below the top of the sides, so that the sides acted as fiddles. This is where our trash can now sits and we also use it for storage of extra drinks in cans. I did eventually install under this box and in the front of the engine room a 5Kw Northern Lights genset. I had obtained the measurements of the genset before closing in the engine room and if fit just fine above the forward portion of the fuel tank. When I refilled the tank, I did it five gallons at a time and read the fuel gauge after each five gallons. This let me "calibrate" the fuel gauge and I have subsequently been able to determine within 1-2 gallons just how much fuel is in the tank and how much it needs to fill it up, thereby eliminating any accidental overfill spills. It took, by the way, 72 gallons to top up the empty tank (the specs said the boat had a 75 gallon tank). This repair of the tank, instead of getting a new one, has held to this date without any problems encountered in leakage or structural integrity of the boat. Since the repair we have logged over 25K nautical miles of travel in the boat, the majority ocean miles, finally stopping in mid1995 to build a shore based residence and then, after one more Bahamas cruise lasting nine months, refurbish the boat after 11 years of living aboard and cruising the east coast and islands extensively. That refurbishment is almost complete and we are getting real antsy to head out again. A new tank in aluminum was quoted by two manufacturers at over $1000 and I would have had to seal the bottom and sides against the same thing happening again myself. Getting one fabricated out of fiberglass was quoted at $900. I spent $110 on materials and did the work myself. The entire job took just over 40 hours start to finish, including the woodworking. Relative to your thoughts about perhaps just putting a tank elsewhere, I offer the following. I have seen the conversion of the forward water tank to a diesel tank done, but the problem is that the forward water tank is wide and flat and motorsailing to windward in a seaway of any sort with less than a half tank of fuel results in a loss of prime and the resulting shutdown of the engine. Converting the "T" shaped water tank would serve to eliminate that problem, but that tank contains the majority of the water supply on the boat. And if you water tanks are plastic like mine are, you would want to get a new tank made for that location rather than converting the existing tank. A tank forward of the steering quadrant would work, but the tank would be fairly small. Putting a tank outboard of the walk thru would result in a starboard list when the tank were near full and getting the two required fuel lines from there into the engine room would be difficult as the only access under the sole is via the navigation seat. I too thought about all these possibilities and decided that the only good solution was what I thought at the time would be the hardest solution to accomplish. Turns out it was not too bad at all. I did take lots of pictures at the time of the repair and can find them and scan them in and forward them to you via e-mail if you wish. Hope all this helps. Date: March 2, 2003 Gary, When my tank was put in, the yard put three coats of the newest/best running gear paint on tank to try to help prevent the corrosion problems that these tanks are so plagued by. So far I'm 5 years and counting. Time will tell but the next time if there is one, it will be a much easier job. Regards and good luck. Date: March 3, 2003 Gary, Date: March 4, 2003 Dear Gary, I do have a couple suggestions. YUou have two large water tanks. The tank in the keel next to the fuel tank is 78 gals. The large water tank is 93 gallons and is under the floor (sole) of the main solon. It is nice to have such large water storage if you plan long range cruising. But if you plan off shore cruising, you could use the 93 gallon tank that is relatively easy to get to, for fuel. Maybe not the existing tank, but replace it with Stainless Steel or better yet heavy plastic. There is no way to get the huge flat water tank out in one piece, but once you get it out in pieces you could put in 2 or 3 small flat tanks...all for fuel or one for fuel and one for water. Just leave the old leaky fuel tank in place or perhaps fill it with a gel inert substance equel to the fuel weight. Date: March 6, 2003 Gary, et al, Date: March 20, 2003 Gary, Date: May 4, 2003 John, Date: May 15, 2007 I am replacing the bladder tank currently installed by the PO in my 1981 40' Endeavour. The original tank was destroyed to get it out so I don't have dimensions for the tank. I have approximate dimensions of the original but would like to get a more accurate set of dimensions. To get to the area where the tank will go requires some major surgery to the sole, engine compartment and removal of the battery box and A/C. Does anyone have a source for the tank dimensions. I have a quote from Florida Marine Tank (the original builder of the tank for the Endeavour) for an aluminum tank and it is a reasonable $ figure. Before I commit to the quote I would like to fell better about the dimensions. I am calling FMT tomorrow and try to find someone there that can assure me that the tank they quoted is the correct size. Date: May 15, 2007 In the May 2007 issue of Practical Sailor there is an in depth article exploring the ideal fuel tank replacement. It looks at the pros and cons of various materials, construction methods, and ways of minimizing corrosion in the first place. Date: May 15, 2007 I helped friend of mine put the Florida Marine Tank, tank in his 40 without problems. They were the original manufacture. It is a major project to get the space open to install the new tank but it can be put back together fairly easily. Date: May 15, 2007 I don't have the dimensions with me, but have you considered some alternatives for replacing the fuel tank, i.e: While we were at it, we replaced the water tanks with Poly-something plastic. By eliminating the in-the-keel portion of the aft water tank, the fuel tank could be enlarged. That's how we picked up the extra fuel capacity. It's easier to make water than take on fuel when you are out on the briny. Date: May 15, 2007 I have had to replace my tanks as well. I am almost finished with the process and have attached all the FMT drawings. You can see that I have reduced the size of the water tanks but have made provisions for an additional water tank forward of the existing tank. I have removed the old tanks from the inside. I have taken extensive photos and plan to submit the complete process to the endeavourowners website when finished. The keel gets a lot of its strength from the tanks. Beware of fiberglass fuel tanks. If they start adding methanol to diesel then it can dissolve the tank. This has become a major problem with gas tanks on boats (See USCG Bulletin). Let me know if I can help in any way. Another Endeavor owner helped me. Good Luck Date: May 15, 2007 Thanks Joe, This is great. The dimensions I had picked up from a post on the Endeavour owners forum were very similar to what you have. The drawings are great. I don’t need to replace my water tanks as they are plastic and the former owners took real good care of them. I have been able to remove the sole over the water tanks and this weekend will start removing everything I need to remove to get to the old bladder tank. I will get FMT to give me a quote for both aluminum and stainless. I am still leaning to stainless. I notice that you used aluminum for your fuel tank. How are you protecting it from bilge water? That seems to be the real failure of aluminum tanks. I am going to need to remove the forward part of the engine compartment and probably the A/C to get a new tank in to the hull. I too am going to take lots of pictures and make good notes on the problems encountered. We can both post to the forum when we are finished. I will stay in touch and let you know of the progress. Thanks a big bunch. Date: April 13, 2008 I’m now finishing up the replacement of my fuel tank and aft water tank in my 1984 Endeavour 40. Much has been said on this site about replacing the fuel tank so I’ll try to make this quick. My fuel tank and aft water tank were set in about 1/2" of polyester resin then foamed in place. The bilge tank was placed on top of the foam near the top of the fuel tank so water was always in the foam and eventually got the best of the tanks. I have a factory installed gen-set so the opening at the forward end of the engine room was already in place. The gen-set, floor and cross member was removed as described by others. To remove the tanks, I found it easier to simply cut off the top of the tanks, cut out the baffles, make a cut down the corners (these cuts made with a jigsaw with a metal blade as well as a sawzall with a 12" rescue blade (they tell me it is supposed to cut anything) and simply collapsing the sides of the tank in and away from the foam which surrounds the tanks. Even after the tanks were cut up and the sides collapsed in away from the foam I could not pull them up from the bottom (using a 1 ton hoist). I, and the folks at the boatyard, assumed that the tank was stuck to the bottom with the polyester resin. I decided to use a 3" hole saw and drill a bunch of holes in the bottom of the tank which would leave less area stuck to the bottom of the keel. After the first hole was drilled I noticed that the tank would give when you walked on it and water would be forced up through the holw. . . . I tried pulling it up again and it popped right out. So, the tank was simply held in by suction and not stuck to the bottom. All you have to do is drill a couple of small holes and let some air under the bottom of the tanks and they pop right out. I replaced my aluminum tanks with more aluminum tanks however I did add an additional 20" on the front of the fuel tank (with the top 3" lower than the main section) which increased the tankage to 110 gallons I had the T water tank fabricated without the bottom part of the T (and with a 6" x 12" notch out of the rear/center) so now it is more like a saddle tank which only holds 33 gallons. I used fiberglass cloth and epoxy reisn to coat the top and top 6" of the side of the fuel tank. The fuel tank was again set in polyester resin then foamed in place with ultra high density foam to within 3" to 4" of the top of the tank. Then epoxy resin was poured 2" or 3" deep around top of the tank leaving a trough about 1" deep around the main part of the tank (there is a 2" step down where the main part meets the new 20" section and the epoxy poured around the new 20" section is poured level with the top of the tank). The net result is that I now have a new bilge floor around and over the fuel tank and a sump over the new 20" section of the fuel tank. After the new water tank was installed a bilge pump was placed in the 6" x 12" notch (this gives me plenty of access to clean the pump etc.) Everything else was replaced pretty much as has been explained in over posts. By the way my tanks were fabricated by Ezell Industries in Perry FL and I recommend them highly. If anyone wishes to use my tank design, I’m sure they have it on file. . . . They alsohave the original tank drawings from Florida Marine Tanks and the modified drawings of Joe’s. If I can be of any help or explain this further please email me.
From: Mark & PJ markpj23@att.net
From: Paul Uhl endvr32@endeavourowners.com
From: John Bartoszek JBartosz@symbol.com
I had my old fuel tank removed as part of the repair job to my keel when I hit a rock. It was done from the inside. The yard cut the old tank up and removed it in pieces. I will try to locate the old bill to see if they broke that work out separately. The previous owner replaced the 2nd water tank with a fuel tank so I haven't installed a new tank. I would be interested in what you find out about replacing it because I intend to replace mine. There was a previous entry in the discussion forum on replacing the tank with a fiberglass tank, Dimensions and how to reinstall the tank was included in the discussion.
From: Billy Vance & Julie Roberts Meadolninnn@aol.com
From: John Regina John J1314@aol.com
I am currently replacing my fuel tank in my E40 as we speak. Do not do what you are talking about. Call me and I will share my experiences with you and guide you on what has to be done.
From: Frank Boensch FDBASSOCIATES@compuserve.com
I own an E40 and shortly after the purchase I had to repair/replace the tank. My choices were to replace the tank, which can be done by removing the cabin sole, pull out the two water tanks so that you can now see the front of the fuel tank, then cut out the old and install the new tank. Oh, by the way, you cannot get the main tank out of the cabin. However, there is another way. I installed a bladder tank whichmay be less expensive and works well. The biggest problem with the bladder is that you are never sure when it is full. My tank holds 52 gallons of fuel but is subject to filling with air as the fuel goes in so it requires "burping" the tank. However, I have found that using a relatively small diameter neck funnel cuts down on the amount of air going into the tank. Of course this really endears you to the gas dock folks when they really want to fill up one of those 1000 gallon barges (powerboats). If you have any more questions, do not hesitate to e-mail me.
From: Billy Vance & Julie Roberts Meadolninnn@aol.com
From: Michael Gendel mgendel@worldnet.att.net
i have heard that the Oxford (MD) boat yard has charged $5k to remove the tank on the E42 via cutting the hull. If the wound is closed properly, should be as stron and probably more strong that the original hull.
From: Fred and Donna VerPlanck verplanck@fredsplace.zzn.com
We have just completed the dreaded fuel tank transplant on our E40.... at Peake's Boatyard, Trinidad, West Indies. We took the old aluminum tank, with several gaping holes from electrolisis, out by cutting a sizeable (3' by 6') hole in the port side of the keel.
From: Anita or Stephen Leed sdleed@worldnet.att.net
From: Robert Patarcity rpatarcity@yahoo.com
From: Ed Prough catch22pro@pocketmail.com
From: William Schreiber whatever4@juno.com
I have one of the early Endeavour 40ies, hull #129, purchased new in 1981, and I had to remove the aluminum fuel tank in 1987, My water tanks are milk bottle type plastic, about 1/2in thick, so they have presented me no problems. The forward tank is sitting on top of the glassed over lead ingot ballast in the keel and can be easily removed by using a jack to remove the strain on the single 2x4 that straddles over it.
From: Gary and Terri garymbsail@attbi.com
From: William Schreiber whatever4@juno.com
I own an E40, hull #129, 1981 model, bought new in September '81. I had to work on the fuel tank in 1987, when it started leaking while we were in the Bahamas. Luckily it quit again quickly due to all the sludge and junk in the bottom of the tank and allowed us to complete our trip and fix the problem once we returned to St. Augustine, FL. In great detail, here is what we went through to "fix" the tank.
From: David Meuche starstream@prodigy.net
My boat is a 1981, and it is on its third tank. A previous owner had replaced it once and I replaced that tank about 5 years ago. When the previous owner changed out the factory tank, 78 gallons I believe, they put in a 55 gallon tank which fits in and out without removing the engine or its pan. The 78 gallon tank was cut up and removed. There was a very slight change made in the battery box and the sole inside the forward cover of the engine compartment to allow the tank to slide through the opening on the forward side of the compartment. I could send you pictures of these mods if you are interested.
From: John & Sandi Bartoszek jsbartoszek@worldnet.att.net
When I bought my E40, the previous owner had converted the 2nd water tank to a fuel tank. Worked well for us for about 6 years. I decided last year to replace the original fuel tank and replace the 2nd water tank because we were going to move onto the boat and do some extended cruising. I had the work done by Brewer's in Greenport NY. They cut a hole in the side of the keel and replaced the tank that way. It was fairly easy. As I recall, the cost was somewhere around $4000, including the tank. I got the original drawings for the tank from the company that made them for Endeavour. Hope this helps.
From: Jim Parks RIPTYD97@aol.com
I have a 1983 E40 and so far no problems with the fuel tank. However, from the talks of owners on this www, it seems I will at some time. I will appreciate hearing what you end up doing with your fuel tank problem.
From: Fred VerPlanck verplanck@fredsplace.zzn.com
Ah...yet another E40 fuel tank bites the dust. There are a number of solutions, all are in some way a compromise or totally unsatisfactory. We looked at filling the fuel tank with a rubber bladder (unsat because of the problem of getting all the rough edges ground down), or a new fuel tank where the chill chest is/was, or a new tank (or tanks) under the aft cabin bunk. E40 August Moon did the former, the latter would make it more dowm by the stern, and reduced fuel capacity. In the end we opened up the port side of the keel, taking away a 3ft by 6 ft slab, and installed a new hand laid up fiberglass tank, then rebuilt the side of the keel. Expensive, but I'd do it the same way again. Can't tell we'd ever opened 'er up.We replaced the "rotten" aluminum aft water tank at the same time and used the space in the keel to fit the enlarged fuel tank. The water tanks (poly-something or other plastic) now both sit above the keel cavity. We rReduced water cap'y by 30 gals, but picked up the same in diesel cap'y. You can make water at sea, but you can't make fuel. :<)) Questions cheerfully answered.best regards.
From: DAVE NOFS nofsfia@hotmail.com
My name is Dave Nofs. My wife and I own hull #1 of the E-40's. In 1990, we had to replace the fuel tank. Ours wasn't too bad as we were living in St. Peteresburg,Fla. where they were made. Plus we knew the owner's of the Company. At some point in time after ours, they fiberglassed the tank in place under the gen-set area. Ours was not and was able to come out thru the main cabin area. If you haven't already done the job and would like more information, send me an e-mail and I'll try to walk you thru the process. I personally think the idea of putting a tank on the starboard side would totally throw the boat to a huge starboard list. Your talking about 550 lbs. Good Luck. I also just finished replacing the chainplate. Can give you help on that also. Could you send me and e-mail either way with the boat name and hull Id #. (Found stamped in the starboard rear corner) This is strickly for my use as I try to keep track of the E-40's.
From: Gary and Terri Beckett garymbsail@attbi.com 9:43 PM
Subject: E40 fuel tank problem
Thanks for your reply and advice. I've decided to replace the "T" water tank with a fuel tank for the time being [don't think I can get the keel job done in time for our big cruise]. You mentioned you sailed for a number of years with the water tank as a fuel tank. During that time did you have or feel the need for ballast in the keel fuel tank? I was wondering what was used for ballast. Thanks
From: John Dalton engcon@engcon.org
From: Paul Uhl endvr32@endeavourowners.com
From: Scott Clarke sclarke@wistv.com
From: Frederick VerPlanck verplanck@fredsplace.zzn.com
I cut a 3 ft by 6 ft (approx) panel out of the port side of the keel. It made replacing the tank quite easy. Fiberglass is easy to repair.
From: Joe Blanchard jlblan2@bellsouth.net
From: John Dalton engcon@engcon.org
From: Bill Aldridge cruising40@hotmail.com
