Modernizing our Fuel System

BEFORE

AFTER

Talk about a big undertaking?! Talk about a big deal?! I have been dreading this post for no other reason than I don't really know how to describe all this stuff. The equipment, the hardware, the process of the fuel system; none of this is my forte! That being said, bear with me as I've tried to get GR to explain it to me and this is my interpretation (since he doesn't write), I'm trying my best.

We began this project was because our fuel was dirty and we wanted a way to clean it and move it around. Of course we could have paid to have someone polish it but that doesn't solve the problem for the long term. Besides being able to polish our own fuel (sooo cool!), moving fuel between tanks allows us to control how the boat will ride because of weight distribution in different sea conditions. 

Above you see the BEFORE photo of the original Fuel Manifold. We've changed from the old Hatteras fuel valves that didn't have seals, they were just metal on metal and the guy at Hatteras was had this to say, "Wow I'm surprised they haven't begun leaking yet! Hatteras actually stopped using those valves in the early 70's for that reason." Yikes!

So we've kept it simple with manual valving and we've added a polishing and priming system. Below are a few photos of the manifold we had built by Ward's Marine. Gordon designed this system specifically for our boat as well as the layout for the manifold. It's pretty wicked!