[The Hedgehog]

Originally Posted by grandpagary

Hello Bill,
Good advice. The welded part of the through hulls look fine it just seems to be the main engine intake gate valves themselves that are the problem on this boat. I have one other seacock in the forward bilge that needs to be rebuilt / replaced. I've tried all kinds of techniques to free it up but it remains extremely stiff. I'd need tools to close it and that's not what you need if you need to close it quickly. The rest of the seacocks seem to be okay, they shut off the water and I can exercise them easily. Plugs are on my long, long, long, list of stuff to get. I'll look at some on the online boat parts places to see what I can find and get them ordered.
The fuel valves, at least on this boat, are located just aft of the main engine through hulls in the bilge. This boat has two fuel filters located there with valves from the main engine feeds and a shut off valve between the two. Close the side you do not want to feed from and open the shut off valve. This should feed both engines from the same tank. I had hoped to be able to open the shut off valve and have the fuel equalize between the tanks via gravity feed but that didn't happen. Evidently you have to actually feed both engines out of the heavy side tank to even them up. BTW this boat also lists a little to port so maybe this is typical of these boats.
Seems like everywhere you look on these old boats there is something else that needs to be fixed. Gets a little frustrating doesn't it?

Thanks for the info.

My father has a Jefferson and the prior owner did not like the fuel delivery system so he custom built a manifold. It is pretty slick. You can feed fuel a number of ways and it also has a homemade filtration/polishing system. You can have it transfer fuel from one tank to another and filter it at the same time. Ahh the things I could do with some time on my hands.

Yes, it does get a little frustrating but fun. Now if I could only consolidate all the time and money that I have spent on other boat projects over the last 5 years and focus that on the Roamer.....well I would have one heck of a boat. Oh well, too bad it does not work out that way.

[artwork]

Gary's explanation sounds like the system my 58 had too.

Remember about the return lines. I don't think my 58 had any selection on the return lines, especially if both tanks are full or nearly full.

If you draw both engines from one tank, but leave each engine returning fuel to it's 'normal' tank, it can over fill that tank and send fuel out the vents. It might be best to experiment with 1/2 full tanks and watch the fuel levels.

[grandpagary]

Artwork has a good point. I actually hadn't considered the return fuel. The idea of trying this out with half tanks should both answer the question and reduce the chances for a fuel spill.
The modified fuel system sounds like a great idea and I'd love to have a fuel polishing system but that's a swamp I'll have to drain after I get the alligators down to around my ankles!
Back to work - I just installed an new AC unit and my recirc pump quit. I hope it's the relay - the pump is new!