Relocating Gas Tank (and Other Stuff)

I spent today relocating the gas tank.  All the usual hiccups, but all in all a good day.

I used my multifunction tool to cut out 1" square from the transom.  If you recall, I have the 1" "receiving squares" already cut out in the back to the Outboard enclosure.

The 1" square aluminum tubing is "embedded" on each end by 1"

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This is the other side of the transom, On the left is where I glassed in a 3/4" piece of wood for added support and to carry the load to the floor.  On the right you can see the middle tube resting on the existing 1/2" thick divider wall.

And the Port side.  You can see that the thickness of the tube is pretty good.

Shot from above.  I hung from one of those bars with my full weight and it felt pretty strong.  The tank holds 24 gallons or approximately 150 lbs of weight.  The aluminum tubes were placed to carry an equal amount of weight or 50 lbs each.  Unless I am going to Catalina, I don't plan on carrying more than a half a tank at a time.

Here is where the tank was located in the port aft storage area.  Hopefully moving it forward a bit and with the weight evenly distributed port to starboard, will provide some improvement.

Hey...it fits!

This is a shot with the starboard lid removed.  Hmmm, this is my first challenge of the day!

From the other side looking forward.

My solution was to cut the fill tube flush and then insert the gas fill.  It is a nice tight fit and I will push it all the way flush once I decide what type of adhesive to place in between.  I also did the same to the air vent tube and inserted a 5/8" air vent.  The supply tube in the back should be okay since it clears the side of the lid.

I wanted to show some clearance pictures as the outboard is lifted until it touches the under side of the back of the outboard enclosure.

With the outboard in this position, the cowl hits the lids and raises them about 1 to 2 inches.

The bottom of the outboard is about 1 to 2" above the bottom paint.  I am thinking that the boat will float a little higher than that paint line, so once I put her in the water, I will see how high I will actually need to raise the outboard to be out of the water.

Worst case, is I can trim a piece of the cowl off, since there is dead space in the top back of the cowl.

And here is the clearance between the Tilt/Trim and the gas tank support with the outboard in the raised position.












Now for some Side Projects


I scored 2 stern rails from Minney's this week.  They fit pretty darn good and ready for a strern seat at each corner.

As a reminder, the area between the outboard enclosure and the beam will be fitted with a swim step.  I am likely going to make it out of recycled plastic lumber.

I am going to have to create some shims under the stanchion bases, since they are angled.

Same here.

And another Project.

I started building the form for the "Swell Protection" This is what will deflect swells from impacting the hanging Tilt/Trim.  This picture shows the form oriented correctly so the top of the form is the area that will be tabbed to the bottom of the deck.

Another shot showing a swoop inward in an effort to better bisect the wave.

I am taking Thanksgiving week off from work and hope to make some progress on cutting in the windows for the raised cabin and sorting out the helm area.  Here is a sneak peek of my design of the helm area.

Happy Thanksgiving!