I was delighted to find that the new fuel tank I purchased earlier this week fitted snuggly into the existing space that had been allococated to the previous tanks. Its a tight squeeze but it fits nicely and most of the fuel connections are in the right place. I need to drill out some fittings to allow for a fuel return pipe as well as a breather. After that some brackets to hold it in place will need to be fabricated and the bunk side refitted and tidied up.
My refurbishment of the bilge pumps proved a bit more difficult than I expected however I did get the primary pump refurbished and refitted and up and running again. The second pump it would appear hasnt been working for some time as it was badly corroded and full of dried up residue. There are 8 screws on the Whale 10 manual pumps and on the second pump I couldnt get three of these stubborm screws out. I have given the offending chassis to a mate who has workshop faciliaties to see if he can shift them as I think I was likely to damage the screws if I continued.
I got my new flares for my safety cert yesterday and have a large bag of expired flares in the boot of my car which I need to hand over for destruction at the local police station. I also picked up a nice 2kg fire extinguisher this week as well which I have put on the boat as I have my regular units in for a service.
The next steps are to fix in the tank and connect up the fuel lines.
Finish off the second bilge pump and get it working again. I am considering changing its collection point to under the engine as that particular sump is normally quite full. I think another pump for the front bilge is required. Maybe I'll get another manual pump and suppliment with a couple of electric units. I need to get a second battery and fabricate some brackets to hold them steady.