New fuel Tank

[tsekul]

Hi,

Thinking of buying a Westerly GK29. Does anyone know if fuel tank replacement is a major job ( ie engine out etc. ) on these or not to bad. Any ballpark figures would be handy.

Are there any additional costs that pop up at the same time.

I have been reading up and when you are looking at a boat and the broker say's "oh you can replace the engine for about 4K" thats not strictly true when you factor in all the addtional expenses. Seems it can get to nearer 10k

Also I take it stainless is the the best replacement option ?

Thanks
T

 

[stearman65]

Replace Tank

The tank in our Catfisher catamaran was built into the bilge of one of the hulls, it was mild steel & rotten. I decided to install a new tank in the upper stern section of the opposite hull. This meant cutting an access hole in the aft bulkhead of the heads, which I later covered with a mirror. I sent my tank design to various manufacturers & eventually chose Tek Tanks, a) for price b) because of the attention the company gave to my enquiry. The reason I chose polypropeline was the price & the fact you could see the fuel level through the material.
Stearman65.

 

[prv]

Also I take it stainless is the the best replacement option ?

I had a custom tank made by Tek Tanks to fit in a spare corner of the hull. They make tanks in 10mm thick plastic which seems ideal to me. Obviously diesel tanks are less susceptible to corrosion than, say, holding tanks, but with plastic the whole question can be ignored completely.

Not cheap if you want a complex shape, though - they charge according to the number of panels and welds required.

Pete

 

[TimBennet]

Stainless steel is amongst the worst materials for building fuel tanks. The weld zones are notoriously prone to corrosion. But, and it's often the deciding factor, it is good enough for most purposes, there are lots of places you can have custom designs made at reasonable prices and they're nice and shiny and look the part.

The plastic tanks from TekTank are better if you can afford it.

But don't forget GRP tanks. Regular polyester resin tanks have proven to be excellent for diesel.

 

[rob2]

Unless you're lucky enough to get a reply from a GK29 owner, chances are you have a better idea than any as you've seen it! I'm just adding my vote for a PP tank. My guess is that you can use one of the standard ones and strap it to the existing bearers. They are available with various ratios so you can fit a short wide or long thin space. Why do you think you need a new tank, by the way?

Think yourself lucky - my boat has a 100l GRP tank bonded to the hull. Any problems and I'll have to start cutting.

Rob.

P.S. All the photos I've seen of the engine bay are fully boarded in (nice), so where is the tank?

 

[macd]

AsTimBennet says, stainless is far from the best material. Polyethylene (as per Tek-Tanks) is best. GRP is probably second-best, and has the special advantage that it can be home-built and tailored precisely to the space available. However, there is some evidence that modern bio-diesels react with polyester (and even epoxy) resins. Vinylester is probably better, at least for the inner lay-up.

 

[tsekul]

Thanks for the input.
Guess I will have to look at it myself unless a GK29 owner appears out of the GRP


Plastic makes sense

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I replaced the fuel tank on my Moody 31, and had it replaced like for like in mild steel. Relatively cheap; a local engineering company made it up in a few days, and the last one lasted 20 years so I'm not going to worry about longevity! We ensured it was well painted before fitting; ideally it would have been powder-coated, but time constraints meant that the company couldn't do it. The company was West of Scotland Engineering, and they copied the old one so precisely that we didn't need to change any of the mounting points; the new tank was a drop-in replacement for the old. For anyone up on the Clyde, I'd certainly recommend them for metal-bashing and engine work. I doubt I'll still be sailing in 20 years, so it will last plenty long enough!

 

[macd]

re AP's post, this from Calder:
"A [mild] steel tank that is properly primed and painted with a two-part epoxy will be as resistant to corrosion as most...stainless-steel tanks but at far less cost".

 

[Georgio]

Hi,

Thinking of buying a Westerly GK29. Does anyone know if fuel tank replacement is a major job ( ie engine out etc. ) on these or not to bad. Any ballpark figures would be handy.

Are there any additional costs that pop up at the same time.

I have been reading up and when you are looking at a boat and the broker say's "oh you can replace the engine for about 4K" thats not strictly true when you factor in all the addtional expenses. Seems it can get to nearer 10k

Also I take it stainless is the the best replacement option ?

Thanks
T

Based on a GK29 I have sailed on that has had a new stainless tank and engine, I think you should be able to remove and replace the tank via the large cockpit locker on the starboard side. However I would want to have a measure up to make sure. Perhaps make a mockup 50L tank and see if it will fit though the locker lid and then slide under the cockpit moulding.

FWIW I have allways liked the GK29, a very capable boat for not a lot of cash.

Hope this helps a bit.

 

[green kestrel]

Just achieved my ambition of getting a gk29 this season. It's now out of the water, hopefully receiving the attention it needs before next sailing season. One of the tasks was to attend to a mild steel fuel tank with signs of rust. It came out easily through the cockpit locker as mentioned above. Rust is superficial, needing ground back, treated, primed and repainted. Almost there. Hope that helps.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

Just achieved my ambition of getting a gk29 this season. It's now out of the water, hopefully receiving the attention it needs before next sailing season. One of the tasks was to attend to a mild steel fuel tank with signs of rust. It came out easily through the cockpit locker as mentioned above. Rust is superficial, needing ground back, treated, primed and repainted. Almost there. Hope that helps.

A word of warning. I thought I had a mild steel tank with superficial rust - until I ended up with a bilge full of diesel. Turned out the tank was rusting from INSIDE, not outside! I'd had the tank cleaned, and the cleaning removed the last layer of rust that was keeping diesel in....

 

[Jim@sea]

Whats wrong with Aluminium. My boat has an Aluminium Diesel Tank. Obviously welded seams. 17 years old and in perfect condition. Holds 140 liters and when empty weights about 25 kilo which makes it just liftable out of an awkward space.

 

[stearman65]

Tanks

A few years ago I was looking to buy a boat in the USA, most of those I surveyed had aluminium tanks, most showed signs of corrosion.
Stearman65.

 

[tsekul]

Just achieved my ambition of getting a gk29 this season. It's now out of the water, hopefully receiving the attention it needs before next sailing season. One of the tasks was to attend to a mild steel fuel tank with signs of rust. It came out easily through the cockpit locker as mentioned above. Rust is superficial, needing ground back, treated, primed and repainted. Almost there. Hope that helps.

Thanks, keep in touch on how it goes. We are on the verge of taking the plunge. Just can't decide on which to go for.One needs hull reinforcing one doesn't and has been osmosis treated but is a lot more expensive. Is yours the 1/2 tonner or the cruiser racer ?

T

 

[macd]

Whats wrong with Aluminium.

It can work well if the right alloy and is especially popular in the US, but needs special care in galvanically isolating any fittings and designing the bearers to avoid any damp spots. Considering that many manufacturers can't be trusted not to fit plain brass skin fittings, maybe that's all asking too much.

 

[vyv_cox]

I replaced a mild steel tank on a GK29 with a Vetus plastic one. It was a very long time ago but I recall it being an easy job because the locker astern of the engine is vast, with plenty of space to work in. The replacement tank was probably about 10 gallons capacity, rectangular shape, sitting on timber above the gearbox or stern gear, held down with stainless steel straps tensioned with bottlescrews.

My mild steel tank was badly rusted internally, releasing large flakes of rust that would block the inlet pipework at the most inconvenient moment.

 

[CaptainBob]

We replaced the ~60 litre tank in our Westerly Tempest. It was the original mild steel tank in place, about 20 years old, and it had started to leak at the welds.

Nobody did an off the shelf plastic that would fit so we had Coates Marine in Whitby knock together a tank using plastic welding. A few leaks on first install, then some more welding, and it's been great ever since. And as it's semi-opaque, really easy to see how much fuel is left. And also useful to be able to see the level when heeled - amazing how close the level gets to the take-off pipe when only half full. Tempest tank is very "flat" in shape though.

 

[green kestrel]

It is the cruiser racer version. It has had the hull strengthening done and has had preventative osmosis coating. Really pleased with it - sails really well. Best wishes for your proposed purchase.

 

[NormanS]

I'm really surprised that a mild steel diesel tank would rust from the inside. I happen to have been inside a few tanks, in my time, and all seemed to have been well protected by the fuel oil. Maybe it helps to keep tanks topped up whenever possible.