Fuel tank replacement help

[rvivian]

Well, I finally tracked down the diesel odor in Heart's Desire lurking there since I bought her.

I thought it was the "drips" caught on the absorbent pad under the Norscott seal. Not so.

Last night I found a small continuous drivvle from under the fuel tank. The 1986 tank has a leak.(Had the same problem with the aluminum tank in my 1977 Ericson)

Anyone replaced their tank or specifically a Freedom 30 tank?

How is the tank attached to the hull?

Anyone have a sourvce for a replacement tank? The existing tank is an AFP 17 gallon tank tapered to fit under the aft berth behind the engine.

Thanks for any info

[hxschiller]

I had a similar problem with my Freedom 28. Your message stated that the fuel tank was BEHIND the engine. The 28 footer has it under the bunk on the port side of the engine. Other than the bunk top, the tank I had was not secured further. You will have fun getting hoses off the tank without ruining them, but careful persistence will work. I thoroughly washed out my tank (soap and water through the inspection port), and then had the leaking seam welded (so far, successfully). It appears that some stainless steel screws ( they look identical to OEM screws in the woodwork) were dropped down there in 1987 to provide mechanical erosion in addition to some galvanic corrosion.
The last known (to me) address of Aluminum Fabricated Products (AFP) is: 300 Industrial Drive, POB 1088, Perry, FL 32347.
Good luck in cleaning sufficiently to get rid of all odor.

[rvivian]

Update -

I found RDS Aluminum in Perry Florida, successor to AFP the original tank manufacturer used by Freedom.

They have the original tank drawings and will make me a new tank and ship it to me for $755. (2-weeks manufacture and 1 week shipping)

I think there is an advantage to not having to re-do all of the connections or modify the supports. I only want to do this once, so a repair is probably not a good idea.

But it is a bit expensive. I know I'll here from the "Admiral" on this.

Anyone have any thoughts?

rvivian

[brico]

good that you have found original size tank to fit in the place of old one. i am not sure about F30 but on my F36 aluminum tank is fitted snuggly in the same place and kept in place with some sort of a foam so not sure how easy it will be to remove the old one. best of luck and let us know how did it go.

[rvivian]

Progress report -

New tank on order and should arrive just as I get the gash in my thumb healed from the "knuckle buster" when the wrench rounded the brass nut on the fuel outlet and sent my hand into the corner of the aluminum support angle for the Racor on the end of the tank.

The tank was only attached by bolts through an angle along the port top of the tank through lazarette bulkhead. It is ready to lift out once I figure out how to remove the exhaust hose from over the top of the tank. As Hxshiller said above, the hoses are a bear. Its probably time to replace the hose anyway so I may cut it off this week-end.

Anyone have a good way of getting the spiral reinforced hose off the water-lift nozzle without cutting it?