Fuel tank inquiries.

[Hou-Chap]

All,

Since I have received so many helpful responses from this knowledgeable forum, I thought I would shoot another one past you and hope for a response. I am in the process of restoring a 1977 19' Chaparral. I have had to repair a stringer, the deck, etc., etc. (the usual stuff..lol).. It was originally a dual console that I am in the process of converting to a center console and making a fishing friendly rig. The original fuel tank in it was a 16 gallon aluminium tank tucked under the splash well. I would like to replace with a 55 gal. poly tank stored inside/under the custom center console I have fabricated. This presents me with 2 questions. 1) will it matter that the fuel line is about 3 ft. longer than the original one due to the fuel tank being further back? Is there any issues with having your tank further from the motor (johnson 140)? 2) Is there any calaculation or way of figuring out if the added weight of 50 gal. of fuel will have any adverse affects (unsafe) of the operating of the boat? It would be nice to know if its too much weight before I shuck out $300 buck-a-runies for a new tank, and find out the hard way. Any insight, advice, or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!!

Shane
Houston, TX

[60minmacd]

Hou-Chap

Looks like you are adding around 300 more pounds to the hull weight with the full tank.
In all likelyhood, you are placing it in the ideal location. The boat may be a bit slow getting up on a plane, but other than that, I see no problems.

[FAST FRED]

Try it out , get a bunch of friends that equal the weight of the fuel & have them stand where the tank will be .

I would guess nothing will be noticed , but the cost of the experiment is quite low , if your friends dont drink too much of your BEER!

FAST FRED

[Hou-Chap]

Thanks guys for the responses. I would like to think that the extra wieght wouldn't make that much of a difference, but I didn't want to spend $300 for a new tank and $5 million to fill it up, just to find out it's like a semi-floating brick in the water. I tend to agree that midship/center of the boat would probably be the best place for it, but I am not a professional boat builder and wanted to tug an yalls ear alittle. I don't guess that by extending the length of the fuel line another 3-5 ft. will bring up any issues. Any other feedback is welcome. Thanks again.

[gulfcoast crabb]

Placing the tank in a different location in the boat should have no adverse affects on the motors performance except the weight shift. Im a commercial fisherman and only use 15 gal drums as fuel tanks and move them around the boat as needed (I run with just a loose fuel hose about 15' so that I can just slide the tanks around) Its shouldnt effect the motor.

[Hou-Chap]

Thanks for the response gc crabb. I purchased the tank and mounted it under the new custom fabricated console, and it didn't make any difference at all. Good luck this season.