Hi guys just looking around for some info on my shark cat she is a 23ft pre 1984. I need to know if the fuel tanks were fibreglass from factory ? Its the only thing i havent yet pulled apart. To get to them looks like the floor will have to come up. Is this a survey thing ? Any help would be great thanks... Scott
it should have stainless tanks, and the floor will have to come up, crap job, but not all that hard really, the tanks will be about 50-60mm below the floor, so a saw can be used, set to a depth only cut the floor, there will be cross over beams under the floor about every 500-600mm.
Yep noelm is right but just remember in the old days they used nails as well.When i pulled up my floor in the 560 sharky i used a diamond cutting blade with a grinder.Was cutting over the fuel tank and seen sparks everywhere.(proceeded with caution)When i got floor up and can see properly i realised i also had about 100ltr fuel sitting outside of tank in the well from cracked tank.Be careful.
The tanks are definatly fibreglass because i had to cut a hole into them not long after i bought the boat. They were full of stable foam which disintergrated over time and ended up through my fuel system allowing me to limp home on one motor. The boat at the moment is all but stripped for wondering if i should cut the tanks out. Any ideas on prices for stainless tanks ?
You an use a inspection camera an flush em as well so they are clean. Depends if ere is other reasons to pull up the deck You mention survey. If you are just talking about a inspection frinsurance they are just cheking the boat is in OK condition as opposed to a "boat in survey where it goes through rigorous checks on a annual basis so it is safe to carry passengers and be used commcially
A lot of old boats have already had the floors up in the past so unless you have a issue I'd start with a inspection port in the deck to check things out or use a fibreoptic or camera and have a good look under the deck.
well, that's news to me, I have never seen a Sharkcat with fibreglass tanks, and I have seen heaps of them with the floor and tanks out, all had stainless tanks (that rust out) and are held in place with spray foam stuff.
OH, and I have to ask, how did the foam get in the tanks???
Ill try and get some photos together for you guys. As for the foam i have absolutley no idea about it. Took it straight back to the guy i bought it off who was the local boat dealer in rocky and he helped out but had never heard of the foam either. I researched and all i came up with was they was a similar product in moto x bikes. Maybe the tanks had been done and the foam was added then. Again this is why im asking for help. Im finding out the hard way about old boats and the amount of owners that had a "GO" at doing her up.
I must be the odd one out . I've seen foam in tanks for some special applications. They are pretty special applications -, generally being shot at but sometimes where very large tanks are fitted , what was the history of your cat? Built to survey? Govt dept?
here is a modern example used in race cars
http://www.gmpracingproducts.com.au/...r-fuelfoam.php
Locked under a deck in a inaccessable tank - no never but if the tank had access hatches and inspection ports - yep possible but it must be maintained and so must fuel quality.
Be interested in the photos of your cat as people will be able to point out any structural difference to run of teh mill cat if there is any.
I guess as a starting point, does the floor all look original?? or has it been cut to bits before? be sort of interesting to find the previous owners and try to piece together the history of the boat. A couple of photos would be nice.
Me either, all I've opened have had stainless tanks too.Originally Posted by Noelm
If she were mine I'd do it justice and lift the deck to inspect. Would be a terrible shame to tidy her up then soon after have a serious tank issue/failure.
I suspect the foam in your fuel is actually foam from inside the hull, definately not a racing fuel-cell type foam.
Another two bob thrown in, I'd be making stainless or thick wall alloy tanks to go in there, and fibreglass tanks don't cope with the increasing amounts of ethanol/alcohol in modern fuels.
The ex ASR 23' Sharkcat Dad and I bought years ago needed surgery to replace the tanks. It was a floating bomb waiting for an accident, the starboard stainless tank had cracked and half the starboard hull was full of fuel. The "seperate compartments" in the hull were'nt impervious to the fuel over time meaning the whole deck had to come up and it had to breath for considerable time to make safe before rebuilding..
FG tanks are fine if the correct resins have been used. It is a big " if " but interested to see the photos and know how old the tanks are. Most tanks made unless by a specialist in the last 20 years would not have the correct epoxy and resin blends used. Just had to be done right. Is it a diesel or outboard as the one in your sig is a outboard?
Just so you know a lot of tanks built for special purposes straight glass and others were stainless covered in glass so they would never fail and have less condensation and corrosion issues. . I'll be interested to see if yours are stainless covered with glass? When you opened them up was there baffles at all?
I have glass tanks (not a sharkcat) and they are really good, but once a few years ago before the rules on ethanol, I got fue in darwin from a different servo in the rear tank. It must have been ethanol and it ate away some of the glass lining and made the fuel turn to gooey shxt. for years thought the tank was buggered, but it settled down and is fine now.
most new cats built today have alloy tanks in them and the last shark cat i cut open had alloy tanks. i bet that's confusing your theories?? inspection camera will solve the argument.
cheers Jim
OK so i just spent the afternoon cutting the floor up ... needs work a fair bit of rot in the timber around the tank. I took a quick photo of the tank before i ripped the timber around it Attachment 80866
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