Reattaching the chain on the Starboard gas cap

petemos

Guys, having a great week with boat issues.

Anyone ever have to reattach the chain on the Starboard gas cap? I either broke it off very close to its attachment point or pulled it out of where it is attached down the filler neck. Can I just remove the three screws the hold the filler to the desk and pull the fitting up or do I have to remove the fuel filler line and or is the filler top 5200’ed down. Once I do that it looks like there is a holding screw that lets you reattach the chain to the inside of the filler, is that true?

Thanks Jim

lloyds · Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 10:39 am Post subject:

Shine your flashlight down there and you should see the hole where the screw goes. Get a screwdriver that is magnetized and get a screw and put it back in. This has happened to a lot of folks. I currently have one missing because I got lazy and lost the screw but aim to fix that shortly. The alternative will be the eventual dropping of the gas cap at the fuel dock.

petemos

Hi, I just I just looked down the hole and the way my cap mechanism seems to work is there is a screw (it’s still there as I can now see I broke the chain at the bottom end) that screws in from the outside and attaches to some type of clasp that holds the chain.

So it looks like I have to remove the gas filler to get at the screw. Then unloosen it and also probably disconnect the filler hose to the tank to be able to secure the chain again to clasp.

Did you ever have to remove the gas filler plate on your boat and if so how big a deal was it.

Thanks Jim

lloyds · Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 12:11 pm Post subject:

Never done it but probably not that difficult. Take off the hose clamps and pull the hose off, then detach the filler fixture. It is probably bedded in something like 3m4200 or boatlife. Might take a little filet knife work to get that loose, then lift it up.

rogerbum · Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 12:13 pm Post subject:

It will be a pain in the you know what. Just getting the hose off and back on the filler cap is really tough.

Moxieabs · Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 1:14 pm Post subject:

I went through this several years ago and yes you have to remove the hose and as mentioned it is a PIA. The deck plate on my boat had no sealer whatsoever so it came right off. Of course, no sealer meant water intrusion into the plywood core of the gunwale. I replaced the chain with a cable from WM to prevent future breaks.
Dave

petemos · Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 1:24 pm Post subject:

Thanks to all.

Well this sounds like a wait to after summer or till I loose the gas cap project. I will let everone know how it goes, depending on when a get bored and need an additional project to work on.

Jim

Two Bears · Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 4:36 pm Post subject:

Those are overkill for what I think you described. The balls in the chain hook into a bracket down the filler cap. Sometimes the "hooked" ball just drops out and sometimes the ball breaks off/ pulls apart. In any case, I was able to use my long fingers to connect the last ball in the chain by pushing it in place. If your chain is now too short you might have to get a longer one.
Chuck

lloyds · Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 4:48 pm Post subject:

There must be multiple suppliers used for the filler necks as mine have a little clasp at the end that has a hole the screw goes through. But it also extends out about 3/16" so you can place a screw straight down into it.

petemos

There probably are as many or more multiple filler necks with these boats, as there were builders.

I like Chuck’s idea and depending on my fingers or some type of screw driver or rod I may be able to pop the remaining chain out of the clasp. Then try to hold the remaining chain in place, pull the chain up and hope the chain snaps back into the clasp. I’ll give it a shot and see and or look for people with long fingers.

Thanks Jim

petemos

Well I decided to try doing the job as I was pulling the boat out anyway until next month. I was not able to reach down with my finger or a tool to displace the remaining chain and/or reattach the current chain. I had to go the “remove the whole fitting” route.

It actually only took me about an hour, and 15 minutes of that was because I had to play with an old tube of 4200, as I did not want to drive the 20 miles into town for a new tube to seat the fitting.

First you remove the gunwale storage on the side with gas cap. Next there are 3 screws and a bolt. The two (2) ½ inch outside screws bed to the fiberglass deck. The inside screw is actually a 2 inch bolt that attaches to a grounding wire and then a nut. You remove the screws first then the bolt. Make sure you catch the nut and don’t let it fall behind the gas tank.

Next there are two hose clamps, and in my case the thread head was facing forward and east to unloosen. Once they were unloosened I just worked the fitting up and down and spun it. The fitting was bedded in some 4200, but not much. The fitting came off the hose in about 3 minutes of tugging.

Once the fitting is out, there is an outside screw holding the chain clasp. You remove the screw and clasp, reattach either a new chain, or the remaining chain, and start the reattach process.

The only tricky thing on the reattach is to attach the hose the best you can first, and then put down a bead of 4200. Now tighten down on the bolt and nut for the ground while making sure the other two holes for the screws are aligned. This will draw the fitting down. Then put the other (2) screws back to seat the fitting in the 4200, and also push up to finish reattaching the fuel hose. When the hose is flush with the fiberglass decking from beneath, you know it is fully snug and you can start tightening the hose clamps. Then put the gunwale storage unit back in place.

That’s it. I’m done and off to the bar.

Jim