Fuel Tank Plumbing......

[LilFlattie]

Hey Everybody........
I have a Hondo Flat that I need some help with.
I need to plumb the fuel tanks. The problem is
that I am not familiar with these tanks. They old Imco tanks. They have the fittimg for the fuel lines on the top side of the tank. Our olf flat had valves to run one tank or the other. These don't have the valves. You can't run both tanks at the same time can you? Our old flat had the fitting on the bottom so it was gravity fed. The motor is a BBC with a mechanical fuel pump. What do I need to do??? All ideas are appreciated and welcomed.. Thanks for the time..... Cal

[superdave013]

My fittings are on the bottom like your old boat. That is a USCG no no. They put them on the top with a pick up tube going inside the tank. That way if you have a fuel line break or come off it won't fill the boat up with gas.
You don't have to use valves but I think you should. Rex sells some snazzy one that you can select L,R,Both or Off. That way if one tank drains faster then the other and runs out of fuel you can turn it off and not suck air instead of gas.

[LilFlattie]

Hey Superdave013....
Thanks for the response. I took the fittings off each tank last night and theere is no hose going to the bottom of the tank. It does have senders in each tank. Do you think that I can use my mechanical fuel pump with this set-up? Will the mechanical PULL the fuel out of the tank?? And how is the progress comming with your boat??

[Morg]

LilFlattie,
I just sold my 76 Hondo that had the stainless 10 gal Russell tanks.
I ran a mechanical pump with my set up. It worked very well for my BBF w/ two 750cfm Holleys. You need to have the drop tubes in the tanks. The tubes should be 1/4" to 3/8" off the bottom of the tanks. Try to get them equal in both the tanks for equal fuel flow. Dago at Marine Engineering in Pacheco Ca. has a really cool may of adding hardline into a tank, give him a call. Also when plumbing the tanks run equal length fuel lines to your "T" or filter/water separator. This will also help equal the fuel flow. Fuel valves are a must. When one of my tanks would run dry I could shut that valve off and just have enough fuel to get back to the ramp. Also I highly recommend a dummy light hooked up to a low fuel pressure switch. You can burn a motor down real quick if one of the tanks starts sucking air. The motor still gets fuel but will lean out.
If you are in the Nor-Cal area give Paul a call at G.T. Boats in Fairfield. He sells the pressure switch and a real good fuel filter/water separator.
Also, My Russell tanks had a bung near the fill & 1 at the rear of the tank. The bung at rear of the tank should have the drop tubes.
Good luck
John
[ July 25, 2002, 06:49 AM: Message edited by: Morg ]