bow eye hook

[victorfb]

My bow eye hook is lose and damaging the hull. especially when its on the trailer and in tow. its a 74 tahiti with the front fuel cell glassed in, and i also sprayed expansion foam in areas under the bow were the factory foam had gaps.
i was thinking of finding a cool bow light so i can drill a hole to get to the eye hook nuts, repair the glass a bit and retighten the hook. then install the light in the hole i made. kinda like to not ruin the hull but im sort of stuck. any ideas?

[OMEGA_BUBBLE_JET]

get to rippin that crap out the bow. There is wood in behind that hook and more than likely it is rotten, split or whatever. Anyhow only way to fix it right is to get in there and do it.

[victorfb]

yea, i know thats the best thing to do. if it wasnt for that fuel cell id be all over it allready. damn this is gunna be work...lol

[victorfb]

ok, so if im gunna rip out the fuel cell, what are your opinions on replacing it with side tanks or keep the bow tank? my rails are not very wide like most boats ive seen with side tanks. it gives me more room for the interior but im not sure how much room i have for the side tanks unless i have them made in the shape of the hull sides. those round ones would be too big im sure.

[OMEGA_BUBBLE_JET]

I like the side tanks. If for no other reason you are moving the weight to the back of the boat. I just pulled one of mine out (leaking) not that bad. I recommend a chisel and hammer and try to shadder the fiberglass rather than cutting it. You cut it you itch for days. the round tanks are only 8.5 inches in diameter and 48 inches long. 12 gallons each. do it once and do it right. Good luck and get to it.
Omega

[victorfb]

do both tanks feed the motor at once or do most have a valve of some sort?

[hack job]

frist off there is a reason that your boat has a belly tank i would not tear out the tank untill i knew what to expect. i would talk to other owners that have the same boat as you and see what they have done. as for the bow eye. if you wanted to up in a pop up light in the frnt that owuld give you enough room to work on the wood up there and replace that bow eye. you can find the bow eye on pop up light (http://cpperformance.com/products/Accessories/176.asp) there are plenty of people around these boards that have tahitis and would know about the other wink

[OMEGA_BUBBLE_JET]

I use a valve mounted to the stringer. I have heard of people using a tee and drawing from both tanks but I just can't see how it would draw equally. Not enough gain to risk it. The valve is cheap though. The tanks are gonna be your biggest investment. Glassing them into the side of the boat shouldn't be that big of a deal either. The better weight distribution should help unwet some of your boat and you know what that means. More speed..... Sounds like a winter project though if you can't put it off that long. I was stupid and started mine last week. Now I won't be going to the lake for at least a couple of weeks :(
Omega

[BiggusJimbus]

Ditching that bow tank will also tremendously improve your handling.
Nothing worse than a buch of weight sloshing around right the bow entry point (besides the fat driver I mean pig_flyi
Plus, you gain a place to store all your crap.
Jimbus

[OMEGA_BUBBLE_JET]

mine is full of foam. I guess that'll make it bob like a cork if I ever split in half.
Omega

[GlastronGuy]

I've always assumed that the weight of the fuel in a bow tank offsets the weight of the motor?

[OMEGA_BUBBLE_JET]

don't confuse automobile weight distribution with a boat. In a boat you want your weight as far to the back as possible. If you have an extra 150lbs up front keeping the nose planted in the water you have more drag which equals less speed. You want as little of the boat as possible in the water or otherwise called aired out. It will plain faster and have a higher top speed and probably handle much better when the hull is less wet. That's why place diverters work so well. they help lift the nose out of the water.
Omega

[DUCKY]

Although it would be nice to get rid of that weight in the front of your boat, you don't have to take all that stuff out to get at the bow eye. Any qualified fiberglass shop would be able to cut an access hole in the deck, make the necessary repairs, and put it all back together so you couldn't tell the difference, assuming you boat is gelcoated, and hasn't been painted over. Paint is little tougher (sometimes impossible...) to blend in.

[40oz'nHO's]

Bow tanks are not bad. Back in the 70's I had a Tahiti drag jet that went 119mph with a bow tank.

[victorfb]

the boat does still have the original gel coat, but the deck , transom, and sides are fading bad. it is a brown and silver glittered gel. when i bought the boat it looked great because the guy clear coated it, but that didnt last. i am thinking of sanding the clear coat off and re- resining with a gloss coat. or ? not sure what to use. my early days of surfboard making i used differant resins for differant applications. but finished off with a gloss coat and buffed out. can this be done over the boat glass? ive heard there is a sprayable gel coat but was told it doesnt work well. not sure if they just didnt want me to it myself or not. but i would like to get it looking better. any ideas?

[victorfb]

this will definatly be a winter project. and after closer inspection of the bow, tank, and foam i am thinking i may be able to squeeze along side the fuel cell and get to the eye bolt nuts. its a deeper "V" than most (74 tahiti runabout) so i think i may be able to reach it. just have to cut out alot of that foam. anyone got an electric knife? lol

[BLEWBAYOU1]

Check out this Co.I have never dealt with them myself, but they can make any shape or size tanks you want.
http://www.sptanks.com/tanks.htm#
Brian :D
[ June 15, 2003, 12:35 PM: Message edited by: BLEWBAYOU1 ]