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I have raised the RPS almost 3" with two beautiful pieces of mahogany which were cut on the bandsaw to the shape of the leg bases, finished and sealed with West Epoxy. There is now ample room for the placement of a larger fuel tank. I am using a 20 gallon Moeller. There are going to be two Teak rails screwed in at the front and back of the tank with a black strap wrapped through them and around the tank to secure it, kind of like a big boys battery box hold down. I am reasonably confident in this method securing the tank. It would be nice to find a mat for it, but not necessary.

My main concern however is how to rig the fuel line. There are many photos of these, but no discussion and no close-ups of what the fitting looks like at the floor. I can envision accurately drilling down and into the rigging tube and can see the process of fishing fuel line from the back to the drilled hole. What I can't see though is the actual fitting in the floor. There is a hand off at that point from tank hose to rigging tube hose I would think. There must be some kind of watertight male 90 degree fitting that can be screwed and caulked in at that point.

Am I right in this? You guys must have run into this problem. How did you solve it? I don't want to just snake the tube through from tank to the back. I would like to make the transition a little more neat and tidy than that.


Suggestions??

Grady

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A prior owner had done the hole into the tunnel on my Montauk. He/She used a brass thru hull with the flared end on the deck. The tank shown is a Tempo 27.

I think the technique could be:

drill the hole. coat the exposed sides with epoxy or caulk then insert the tube. Key to this would be to get the length of the tube right and smooth the edges that are in the tunnel so the line does not get punctured.

Here is the best photo I could find in my archives.

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I cropped the photo a bit more in an attempt to get better detail. While you can't really see it, it is a brass drain tube. :)

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I am about to get rid of my 6 gal tank and go for somthing bigger under my RPS which is raised about 3"

What tank should I purchase?

and do I need to put a fitting in the floor where i drill into the tube? I was going to finish off the hole with west systems and snake a fuel line, is the fitting to prevent chaffing?

thanks
bob

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The tank shown in the photo is a Tempo which are no longer made. One national brand of above deck tank is Moeller.

They make a 12, 20 and 26 gallon tank.

For photos and measurements, I found the information on this site

Shop around since prices vary.

If you choose a 12 (or maybe a 20) you may be able to use the existing center opening if you raise the tank off the floor. Measure carefully.

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Here's a few photos of my hack job. West Marine had a thru-hull 5/8" white plastic fitting which I just acquired. I have to cut the throat of it off and just use the finishing ring to clean up the entry point into the rigging tube. I'll photograph it when it's completed and add it here.
The fuel line was fed through the snakeskin from the tube back to the splashwell. The skin was cut into to create a slit to allow the fuel line to exit and feed the filter. The rest is pretty much self evident.
The one lone wire running to port is the power for the 360. I have to find it a good routing yet. Yea, I know it looks like a big zit right in the middle of your nose! I'm working on it.
Grady


[img]http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd283/Grady952007/FuelTanketc003.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd283/Grady952007/FuelTanketc004.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd283/Grady952007/FuelTanketc008.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd283/Grady952007/FuelTanketc009.jpg[/img]

[img]http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd283/Grady952007/FuelTanketc011.jpg[/img]

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Thanks for the input. My whaler is a 62 nauset with a 90's console and a 70's RPS and I do not have an exsisting access hole to the tube below the floor. I wonder why I would need a fitting to access the floor. Thanks for the link on tanks.....thinking about the 20 gal...........26 too much/harder to fill?

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I have always preferred two 12 gallon tanks on my Montauk.
Easier to fill and carry if you have to and when one tank is empty, you know you have enough fuel to get home.

Even though the photos are not working at this time, check out this link:
http://www.whalercentral.com/photogal...hoto_id=68

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Grady,

Do you have a sump cover on your Montauk?

I would highly recommend adding one if you don't have one.
Anyone could break an ankle stepping into that hole.
We have a drawing of the sump cover in the downloads section.

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Grady -

That is looking really great. Kudo's for taking the time to do it!

One question: Where the fuel line enters the deck, is that caulk and the fitting, or just caulk?

On the stern light wiring, I used duplex wire sheathed in white in the OEM position. Made it a bit less obvious. I installed dri-dek on the entire deck so it hid the wire for the run on the deck to the tunnel. (Not suggesting you install dri-dek.)

What kind of wire is that running from the light? Looks strange in the photo.

One idea - Run the light along that lip toward the splashwell and it could join the wires coming from the engine.

For the sump cover, you could fab it out of some marine ply or get a small household plastic cutting board.

The boat is looking great. Really!

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Joe and Phil,
The sump cover is easy enough to make. I may do something interesting with some teak and mahogany scraps laying around. Good point on it being a legbreaker. I'll get that taken care of. Any excuse to see more nice wood is OK with me. I think beautiful hardwoods and Whalers just go together so well.

The entry of the fuel line into the floor is sealed with caulk only at this point. I tried today to modify a plastic off the shelf fitting, but it just looked like such an afterthought that I couldn't bring myself to mount it. It's back to the drawing board on this. I have some ideas, but will need to get the correct stock to work with. Stand by...

CBO, that's zip cord. plain old 16 gauge speaker wire. Right now, my "360" is nothing more than a stock Perko pole light wiretied to the 316 rail with a cobjob splicing to power it and run juice up to the nose light. Your suggestion to route the wire is what I was thinking as well. It will also run into the snakeskin in the sump, exit under the motor and just skoot across either the splashwell or transom over to the light. When I do it, somehow there will be a desert tan 1/2 round conduit set to cover it. I like the concept of "hide in plain sight" when rigging. Still working to get this design in my head.
Grady