This idea of chopping a hole in the hull sounds like the MOABI (mother of all bad ideas)...
I agree, but some people think otherwise. Marin had mentioned this before.
Grand Banks fuel tank removal - YouTube
This idea of chopping a hole in the hull sounds like the MOABI (mother of all bad ideas)...
...., leaks where the topside mounts to the deck, so that walls will need to be torn out, and replaced. Supposedly, $5k will do the trick........also, heard about iron tanks, but $5k ish will get me a alt to pulling tanks thru a hole in the hull. Where does the 50-150 numbers come from, assuming good hull core????
I just replaced the fresh water pump ($1100.)
What kind of freshwater pump do you have?
I would not be really comfortable living on a gasoline powered boat, especially one with fuel tank issues. Leaking diesel smells bad. Leaking gasoline goes "boom".If it's truly going to be a dock condo only, some of the stated issues go away. On the other hand, as stated earlier, there are some very cool older Chris Craft, Hatteras and the like that would make much better live aboards. I'd forget the "trawler image" if the objective is to tie it fast to the dock most of the time. Twins, gas, who cares if it's only going to travel from the launch basin to the slip once in a while. ...
...The small aircraft folks have internal tank coatings, as do many motorcycle dealers , that are designed for fuel ...
The challenge to using the internal tank coating, or "sloshing compound" as it's called in the aircraft industry, is that it's called that because of the way it's applied to the inside of the tank. I have used this coating material myself and it works as advertised. BUT.... the method to apply it is to pour it into the removed tank and then turn the tank in every direction including upside down to distribute the sloshing compound to every nook, cranny, and seam in the tank. As I recall the directions said to continuously turn the tank for five minutes to make sure the compound coated every single bit of the inside of the tank.
Be hard to do this with a tank mounted in a boat.
"Tanks seem perfectly OK right now!'
Tanks will rot from the outside at the bottom if they get wet , also from the top if the deck rains.
Time to inspect the tanks is after a heavy 3 day rain.
. if they are original, even though they look like new..
Keep them that way and they should be good for 350 years.
Project boats intrique me. However if you are going to put all this time and effort and $$$ make sure this is pretty much your forever boat. Otherwise you will lose interest as things become difficult or you determine the boat is not for you.
At that point you will have to give it away along with everything you bought for it.
As far as tanks go you should cut them up and clear them out, removing as much crap from the engine compartment as possible. Clean it completely and paint it fresh and new. At that point you can reinstall any equiptment that proves to be usable--replace as much as you can with new. Wiring, plumbing, pumps, waterheaters whatever.
You can use smaller tanks, leave room to double them up later if you need more range.
If the boat has leaks and damaged wood work all over, it will be a long time before it becomes a liveaboard and not a workshop.
If I were doing this much work on a boat I would perfer to have one with a more consistant build quality, such as a Grandbanks, There are lots of 42s on Yachtworld and some are priced low. It would seem you could get one for 50 or 60k.
Although you could still have a project boat, I don't think the interiors get anywhere near as bad as some of the Marine Traders. If you buy a quality boat the money you spend restoring may not be wasted.
My 2cents-- JohnP
Are the grand banks regarded as bullet proof.