35 TE Fuel Tank Access

[Halcyon]

With bad fuel being one of our biggest boating issues access to the tanks is important for maintenance. The 35 has three interconnected tanks with the center acting as a manifold for supplys returns and the fuel level sender. The whole manifold area has a semi-permananent hatch right on top of it. I could see the day when one of these fuel lines needed replacement and there would be hours of R&R to cut the caulk and then redo.

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This lack of access on the 35 is kind of suprising so I set to improve the situation. I have seen photos of others doing the same thing by installing plastic hatches. With the hatch being in a high traffic area I wanted something that would not flex underfoot. I found a nice heavy cast aluminum Bomar hatch and installed it.

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I also wanted to be able to suck any water out of the bottom of the tank. My father taught me this was manditory annual maintenance. A regular fuel fill would work, but I found these neat fuel tank access plates made by Seabuilt out of Ellensburg Washington, which is no where near the sea. Great product great people. Made from either Aluminum or Stainless it is a solid disc for the outside and a ring with bolts for the inside. The backing ring is cleverly cut in half allowing it to be inserted in the hole, opened and the bolts are fed up through the tank and the solid disc bolted down.

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A fuel fill was added to the disc so I can check the fuel level with a stick.

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[Chuck Waygood]

A very nice installation, Halcyon. My Boats PO did the same with all three tanks, but utilizing the plastic access hatches. One did crack, so your thinking was right on. Nice photos.

[N4QC]

How did you resolve the potential for keeping filings from becoming a problem if they were to fall into the tank when cutting the tank access hole?

Nice job!

Happy Turkey,

[Halcyon]

I has a shop vac running while I was drilling but Im sure some got in there. The directions for the access plate did not address chips at all. I assume they will sit on the bottom of the tank or be trapped in the filter as they are quite large. Fingers Crossed!

[N4QC]

Thanks for the feedback...

Have fun,

[whwells]

Halycon: Excellent article. We did some work in the area last winter trying to find places to tie into the fuel for the
Webasto heat system and then the Next Gen. set. It is very tight working in the area. I may follow your advise
next year. Where did you find the bomar attaches for the job? At one time I knew the area of Ellensburg, Wa. you speak of as I was an adjuster out of Yakima, Wa. a near by town. We had an active agent in Ellensberg. What a surprising place to find such a cover. There is a section of Yakima called Union Gap that would have been a more likely place for your find. In the 70's when I was there Ellensburg was just a farming community mid way in the state on one's way between Seattle & Spokane.
Anyway, thanks for the advise and I will see what we can do. Do have a bit of concern about cutting into the tops of the tank. As I recall we did drill one of the tanks for a pickup for the Webasto system.
whwells "Howard"