2/3/07 EXTREME MAKEOVER!!!
There is no time like the present for a boat makeover. The day started with some prep work on the sides of the boat for an eventual painting. Jack had that nagging feeling that he would need to repair the livewell with whatever leak it had, so he went up there to pull it out. This is one of those kind of repairs that take twice as long as you wanted. To the right is a picture of the seats removed and the livewell standing alone, almost center.
After pulling the chairs and livewell (where the fish or shrimp get to swim around alive), Jack sees that there was no sealant under there and water has been leaking down into the home of the fuel/gas tank. Not good. (Left if the ring on the floor after livewell was removed.) The only proper thing to do would be to remove the entire floor hatch and inspect the fuel tank.
Here, we have to pull the entire floor hatch and see what kind of damage all the salt water has been doing there. Oh, it only gets worse. The foam is soaked with fuel and water and it all has to be removed. We found a separate (circular) hatch under the wet foam that give us the source of our mystery black material that was falling into our fuel filter back when we first bought the boat in Aug of 05. Jack was able to remove all the foam off the top here. There will be weeks of repair-work ahead of us. Not, Not, good.
Thankfully, we're not the first Mako owners to have had to inspect and possibly replace their fuel tanks. (The salt water can leave pits & eventual holes in the tank.) Jack has posted pictures to the Classic Mako website and his fishing forums and is getting all the best advice from people who have been there, done that.
There is no time like the present for a boat makeover. The day started with some prep work on the sides of the boat for an eventual painting. Jack had that nagging feeling that he would need to repair the livewell with whatever leak it had, so he went up there to pull it out. This is one of those kind of repairs that take twice as long as you wanted. To the right is a picture of the seats removed and the livewell standing alone, almost center.
After pulling the chairs and livewell (where the fish or shrimp get to swim around alive), Jack sees that there was no sealant under there and water has been leaking down into the home of the fuel/gas tank. Not good. (Left if the ring on the floor after livewell was removed.) The only proper thing to do would be to remove the entire floor hatch and inspect the fuel tank.
Here, we have to pull the entire floor hatch and see what kind of damage all the salt water has been doing there. Oh, it only gets worse. The foam is soaked with fuel and water and it all has to be removed. We found a separate (circular) hatch under the wet foam that give us the source of our mystery black material that was falling into our fuel filter back when we first bought the boat in Aug of 05. Jack was able to remove all the foam off the top here. There will be weeks of repair-work ahead of us. Not, Not, good.Thankfully, we're not the first Mako owners to have had to inspect and possibly replace their fuel tanks. (The salt water can leave pits & eventual holes in the tank.) Jack has posted pictures to the Classic Mako website and his fishing forums and is getting all the best advice from people who have been there, done that.
Our goal is to have the remaining gas put into our vehicles and remove the fuel tank by the end of next week. It will take a team of men to lift this piece. Please remember our project in your prayers. Safety is essential. Secondly, I'm praying that the bottom of the tank doesn't show damage to the point of needing replacing. It won't be the end of the world to replace a tank, but it is $$$ that I wish to avoid. Our bigger goal is to have all of this done in a month to 6 wks. Much of that depends on the condition of the fuel tank's underside.
Be good to your Boat!
Robin
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