Monza SS 24

I'm getting ready to put my new fuel tank in the boat and need help with the foam around the tank. . Composite one sells 2lb foam and 4lb foam. Which one do you use? How fast does the foam set and what techniques would you use to keep the fuel in place while foam sets.

HIGH LIFE

i had to do this once,first install a 1 in. pvc pipe to let water drain thru, than i taped 1 in. sq.blocks 3/4 thick at the cornors,to let the foam flow thru. After i aligned up the tank i got 2 or 3 2x4 and screwed them to the stringers. it may take foam overnite to cure.i would use 4lb. foam...good luck....

27 MAGNUM

Block your tank in all directions with a 1" thick rubber block, I ran mine along the baffle welds and in all the corners. then put a 4" wide tape around the top of the tank as a levy and cover the top of the tank with plastic. Mix in a 2 gal. pail until it turns color and pore in under the tank, be sure to block the tank down level or the foam will lift the tank out of position. Keep mixing in small amounts until the bottom void is filled. Then work the all sides of the tank until its at or over the top. When its dry use a dry wall saw to cut off the excess and seal the edge with resin. Try a small sample to see how fast it foams, the warmer, the faster and farther the material will go. I think I did two 48 gal. tanks with 2 gal of A and 2 gal. of B I had about 2" of void in all directions, I used 4 oz. I wanted 6 but could not find it. Prepare for a mess and take your time, you can do it in stages over a couple of days if you want. Work from the bottom middle out and up. I see you have a Magnum, check out mine on splashed magnum thread. Post your pic.s - good luck.

madbouyz

I recently did this also.
Only the 2 lb was available but I checked with a foam manufacturer and he advised you have to use the 4lb density foam .
All good advice above but just to confirm my experience ...

You CAN do small individual pours. This helps reduce the possibility of the foam lifting the tank uncontrollably.

Much to my amazement it was'nt as messy as I thought.

It's a good idea to do a 'test' batch so you can familiarise yourself with the amount of expansion your going to get. I did an amount the size of a coke can and it expanded into the size of a 2 litre bottle and more. That was worthwile practise !

If you're working in the sun or it's a hot day , watch out , once the stuff has done it's nut in the pot the warmth will accelerate it's reaction time.

Make sure the tank can't move at all before you start (I know this has already been said but it's critically important.

After I had trimmed the cured foam I put a substantial epoxy sealer all over the surfaces I could get to. Any water that sits on top of the foam now will never get throught to it from the top surface.

And lastly , make sure you take the time to properly epoxy coat the tank so nobody has to do this again for a l o n g time.

Monza SS 24

Thanks for the information. Florida marine tanks built me a new tank and they coated it with enamel paint. Do you think i should tank the paint off and coat it with epoxy paint?

Monza SS 24

Here are pictures of the work in progress.

madbouyz

Not having seen your tank I should'nt really say , but it's unlikely that the manufacturer would have only used an enamel paint on your tank. It ought to be something a little more substantial than that considering the environment it's going to live in.

In the past I've coated my tanks with a rather old fashioned
(it's been around for eons) product called 'Gluvit'.
It's an epoxy that has a lot of body to it ... more than regular epoxy resin. It sticks like nothing else but has enough give to it , not to crack from flexing . Then after that is done I barrier coat the tank with another epoxy primer so no light can get to the Gluvit epoxy coating .

It looks like your tank is reasonably long and if you have any doubts about the potential for it to move during foaming , it would make sense to examine the possibility of doing small individual pours for the bottom sections. When the've gone off you can then go crazy with the sides without any worries .
That's what I did with mine .. remember , the foam has a lifting ability of something like 6lb per sq inch !

There are a number of excellent coatings for gas tanks buried in foam .. I think a search under 'epoxy tar coatings' should turn up plenty of useful references.


BTW Is'nt grinding glass a lot of fun ?