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ethyl
04-18-2008, 01:57 PM
I'm sure this situation has been discussed in previous threads but here is my question: my boat evidently had a fuel tank transplant before I purchased it since the current tank is aluminum and has loose chunks of styrofoam around it. The roving tabs that secured the inner tub to the stringers have been cut and were never resecured. Could this explain stress cracks on the hull sides as well as perforation where the tub sections meet( just at the water line below the shift control )? Seems like the tub would flex up and down as it is. Also, when resecuring these tabs should I raise the tub up a bit away from the stringers or let it set where it is? Many thanks in advance for your time and input. This is a great site, John.:confused:

BlownCrewCab
04-18-2008, 02:21 PM
It was made to sit on the stringers. You could go in the center cocckpit hole and glass it to the stringers pretty easily. that would stop most of the flexing.

gcarter
04-18-2008, 02:41 PM
It seems to me you may have several issues.
1) The tank should be foamed into place, chocking it in won't cut it and more than likely you will end up w/a split tank.
2) Some of the early 18's may not have sufficient glass in the sides. Some have the cracks you mentioned and others don't. There are ways to strengthen the sides w/o going to the bother of reinforcing the entire hull sides.
3) Tabbing the ****pit in is a poor method to restrain the bottom. It was only done because they used scrap material to do it. There are better ways. Glassing it to the stringers isn't good either because it is inevitable there will eventually be floor damage. On my Minx I bolted 2" X 2" X 1/4" aluminum angles to the stringers and used the horizontal legs of the angles to land the bottom on. Oh yeah, there were rubber spacers cut from 4" exhaust hose in between.

If any of these ideas are interesting to you, PM me and I'll give you some more data.