[C38] To polish or not to polish

[Rich West]

Hi Steve,
 
We put two inspection hatches in the top of our fuel tank.  Installing the
hatches and cleaning the tank was a BIG job but one I'm really glad I did.
I had a friend in Panama who developed the same problems so I put some info
on my web site to help him out.  You can find it here:
http://www.idea-asylum.com/fuel-tank-hatch/
 
There's a pre-made tank hatch kit available that might make the job a little
easier.  San Diego Marine Exchange ( (619) 223-7159) has the 8" version for
$113.97 (about $20 off retail).  Here's Seabuilt's web site:
http://www.seabuilt.com/
 
I needed two ports to clean out the tank as there's a partition or baffle
between the front and rear of the tank.
 
I also found someone (maybe on our list) who said they took out the tank,
put chain in the tank through the fuel gauge hole and rolled the tank around
until it was clean.  This also sounds like a big job.
 
Hope this helps,
 
Rich, Legacy, #360, Los Angeles Harbor
 
 

  _____  

From: listserve-bounces at catalina38.org
[mailto:listserve-bounces at catalina38.org] On Behalf Of Steve Smolinske
Sent: Monday, August 04, 2008 1:55 PM
To: Catalina 38 Listserve
Subject: [C38] To polish or not to polish


On our trip we hit a stretch of motoring for about 4 hours where the bow was
in the water as much as it was out.  To say the least the tank got pretty
welled stirred up, the next day our fuel supply was plagued with lots of
water causing us to loose power 5 or 6 times, until I went down, drained the
bowl, bleed the engine and waited for the next time it cut out.   When we
got to port I changed the filter which after 15 hours was black and full of
organic material.   Before starting home at the end of the week I changed
the filter again and this time it looked like you would expect after only a
10 hours of use.  My question is for comments on peoples experiences and
thoughts about polishing the tank.  It is in the yard right now having a
bracket fabricated for the heat exchanger which broke during the trip as
well.  My two thoughts are to 1) install access ports in tank and polish the
tank,  or 2) filter the fuel that is in the tank, and buy a big supply of
primary and secondary filters.   I like the second option just from the
expense side of the equation.  Im also considering installing a Y from the
fuel pump to two separate secondary filters, that way in the future should
similar problems arise, I can while under power just switch from one filter
to the next without loosing the engine.  Thanks All. 
  
 
Steve Smolinske
Peregrine #312
Seattle
 

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