[Tiara Open] ‘94 36 open/express fuel tank replacement

[Oceanjake]

One of my tanks has developed a small leak in the diesel tank.  I can see that the deck must be cut and lifted, tanks removed,  and new ones fabbed or current ones repaired.  Has anyone here done this job already?

Questions I Have are:

What did it cost?
How long did it take?
Are any of the poly tanks from newer tiaras able to be retrofitted if I want to avoid aluminum?
Though all will say to replace,  has anyone added full walls of aluminum to the exterior of current tanks to repair instead of replace?  These are complex structures that support the deck and holes must be perfect so I’d love to keep the current tanks in some fashion.
Is there any coating for the exterior of these tanks that is useful to bulletproof them so this doesn’t reoccur in the future?   I’ve heard Linux Bedliner mentioned or?

Thanks for sharing your experience.

[jclark003]

I replaced a set of tanks on a 43 Open. Approximate cost was about $25K 3 years ago. A lot of costs to repair non-skid decking. I ended up having synthetic teak put down instead of fixing non-skid. Added a few thousand but was well worth it. Job took about 6 weeks and that was pushing pretty hard to get it done. Tiara sent me CAD drawings for tanks and I had new tanks fabricated by speedytanks.com. They did a very good job, provided all the installation materials as well as helpful installation techniques to avoid future corrosion problems. Tanks were delivered epoxy coated. No idea if Tiara has a composite tank that will fit. As for repairing, depending on the condition and assuming the leak is at the bottom, you could have the bottoms cut out and replaced. A good welding shop can notch the skin for the baffles. I was going to do this but figured with all the labor involved, saving a couple thousand on something as important as a fuel tank wasn’t worth it. Wrapping the tank may work but the outside dimensions would change. Best bet would be to find a fabrication shop that specializes in marine fuel tank construction and ask them.

Coating the tanks requires tight humidity control and surface prep. If there is any moisture in between the tank and the coating the aluminum will corrode very quickly.

Good luck and sorry to hear of your issues. Tiara is a great builder of high quality boats. Why they decided to go cheep on fuel tanks is beyond any level of comprehension.