1986 Sailfish Fuel Fill Line replacement

[UpGrady]

I'm new to the site, I have an 86' Sailfish up her on Lake Ontario. It's been a freshwater boat, so I'm not concerned about fuel tank rot, but I am concerned about the fuel fill and vent lines. I have noticed some fumes after filling.

So, my questions are; accessing just the fill line for replacement without tank removal and how the heck do you actually get the line off the tank, it is really on there!

It seems to be impossible to even find all of the fuel fill cap nuts with the wiring and foam in the way, so likely an access port is necessary there, but is one also necessary near the deck and fish well behind the captains chair? Also, is it the fill line that I can see way back inside the bathroom storage?

I talked with Grady and they said just pull the tank and give yourself room to operate, but figured I'd ask some others before I tackled something that was seemingly unnecessary in my case.

 

[NautiBuoys]

Fuel fill replacement

Can't speak to the Sailfish but when I did my 1988 23' Gulfstream I did end up finding a split where the fuel fill hoses turned up towards the gunnel. I removed from the tanks (2 of them) and taped/zip-tied the replacement fuel fill hoses and pulled up towards the gunnel. I had to router/saw an inspection hatch into the side of the gunnel to remove the fuel fills and grounding wires. The hardest part was the hose had to go thru 2 bulkheads and without the new hose hooked to the old, it would have been a nightmare. GW sawed a hole a bit larger than the hose ( to pad it) but not much larger. As it was, it took some effort but not as bad as it could have been.

 

[BobP]

UpG - others have done it, I believe you have to bore a hand opening (for a deck plate to cover it later ) to get in there. In the walkaround.

Others wil respond.

Welcome to the site !

 

[Pez Vela]

'86 Grady fuel lines

The fumes are quite likely due to a fuel tank leak, and you are going to have to remove the tank(s) to properly access the fuel lines anyway, just like Grady told you. The hoses viewed from the head storage area are drainage lines, not fuel lines.

In my experience, having replaced the tanks and the fuel lines on my '87 Sailfish, you will have to create an access port directly below the fill cap(s) and, once the tank(s) is/are removed, another hole in the longitudinal bulkhead alongside the tank(s) on the starboard side to extricate the fuel lines (with great difficulty, I might add). This was a nightmare project and I used a professional to do it for me.

 

[UpGrady]

Thanks for responses everyone... as I sit here at my desk, dreaming about spring in New York. My boat is locked up in a pole barn until April 1, so any photos of the access ports anyone has drilled would be helpful for me to visualize everything and make my plan for the spring.

Thanks!

 

[Grog]

If your boat is in a barn, you can get going on it in about a month. The snow might be melted enough to get the door open.

While you're being a cartortionist (and full of fiberglass), if the scupper and drain lines are old maybe do them too.

 

[BobP]

You said you smelled fumes after filling, how long after ?

When you fill, gas vapor escapes out the vent line to an equal volume of vapor as fuel entered.

So that may be what you are smelling, perfectly normal.

 

[UpGrady]

Talked to the marina today, hope to get in beg of March to at least lift the center hatch and assess things a bit further.

Smelled fumes backing up into the cabin after my last fillup in August. I purposely ran the tank down to about 20 gallons remaining to be in a better spot to do what's necessary in the Spring. The bilge is fine, this has always been a freshwater boat, so the fumes could just be the vent line and not the fill, but I need to do both to be safe in a nearly 25 year old boat.

Not a bad idea with the drain lines either,esp the scuppers for the overboards... see what I feel like after this main job.

 

[BobP]

UpG, clarification -

when I said vent line, I meant vent fitting on outer hull.