Bought a '73 CV-19 a few days ago. The gas tank smelled awful and I could look down the filler spout and tell the inside was rusty and full of nasty sludge. There was no write up on removal so here goes. The fuel tank is hidden up in the bow. I'm quite certain the tank was not meant to be removed with the bow still in place...
Remove the carpet board from the Left side using a long 7/16” socket, there are 2 nuts on the back side. The next step you may not like, I didn’t either but it’s the only way to remove the tank. The support wood has to be trimmed lower to make enough room for the tank. Otherwise there is not enough clearance. The carpet board covers it up anyway so no one will be able to tell it was ever cut. A jig saw worked well. Cut it just about flush with the wood that the fuel tank sits on. Again, this gets covered up with the carpet board, and as far as I can tell trimming it shouldn’t alter the functionality. You could always put a new small piece of supporting 1x1 wood there afterwards if you really wanted.
Remove the 3 screws from on top of the bow holding the filler spout in place. Loosen all 4 hose clamps on the filler hose, pull the spout out from the top, you can spin it to break it loose from the fiberglass resin. Remove the rubber filler hose from the tank. The filler spout cap is held by a chain and a “T” piece in the tank, reach in and squeeze the “T” piece together and you can remove it. Remove the vent hose from tank. Remove the 2 wires from sending unit. Remove the copper fuel line using 2 crescent wrenches.
Now the hard part. The tank is fiberglassed in on each side. Use an oscillating saw to cut the fiberglass holding the tank. The tank is boxed in at the bottom by 4 pieces of wood, cut right at the junction of the wood and the fiberglass. Then use a hammer and flat screwdriver to break up the fiberglass and remove. Repeat on the right side. I also removed the small piece of wood that boxed in the tank on the left side, this may not be necessary. It comes off easily with a pry bar. I plan to screw it back down after the new tank is in. Next you have to crawl to the front with a 7/16” box end wrench to remove the holding straps, there’s a nut holding the straps together. Repeat on Right side. You can also just cut the straps instead.
Now the tank should be loose, slide it all the way to the right as far as you can. More cutting now, not ideal but impossible to remove tank without doing so. There’s a thin piece of wood just in front of the tank. It is fiberglassed to the top but does not appear to bear weight. I used a jig saw again to cut across as low as you can, just above the board that the tank sits on. Use a box cutter knife to cut the fiberglass at the top and remove the board. In this picture it’s already been cut but I put it back in there to show you.
Now slide the tank back to the left, push the right side of the tank towards the front of the boat, and then pull it out.
Moeller Marine 032527 looks like an exact replacement made of plastic, I just ordered it. Do a google search and you’ll find a few places online to buy from. It was also on Amazon.
I plan to fashion the wood piece in front of the tank back using a couple pieces of 1x1 wood to support it.