23' Fish Nautique Restoration Project

Well I am a first time poster. My Name is John. It is a pleasure to meet all of you. I just started a restoration of a 1981 23' Fish Nautique. I know nothing about the boat so I am learning as I go and wanted to share all my findings with everyone here. So far I have the floor up and I am pulling all the foam put. you can follow the progress also on my blog
John 23 Fish Nautique Resto

I want to put underfloor saddle gas tanks in the boat but as I was pulling out the foam I noticed that Correct craft put stringers from bow to stern where I wanted to put it. What is your advice on tank location. Am I better putting it forward or more towards the stern. I don't care if I lose the infloor live well as I can put an above deck one in. Well I hope to get some advice from all you pros who know the boat. Thanks again for all the info I have already gained from this site.

John,
Yes, welcome to CCfan. I agree with Tim it would be great if you could document the rebuild here.

What are your thoughts with the tanks? More capacity? I sure wouldn't mess with the primary stringers but maybe the secondaries? Get us some pictures and we'll all take a look. You also need to consider the weight and what it would do to the handling/plaining of the hull. The only place I would consider saddle tanks would be on each side of the engine making the weight neutral with the hull.

The v-hulls didnt have much of a secondary stringer really (assuming the Fish was the same as the BFN). Structural supports that run the length of the boat are stringers, supports that run perpendicular would be called ribs (short) or bulkheads (full width). (At least thats the terminology that I used.) The purpose of the secondary stringers in the v-hulls was really to shape the bilge. They were very thin (1/4-3/8") so I wouldnt really consider them to be structural. The ribs that go between the secondaries and the walls are pretty important though- they keep the v-hull in a vee shape. I didnt refoam and chose to add a lot more of them (spaced roughly at 1'). Even the factory spacing (~30" on the BFN) wouldnt leave a lot of room below the floor from the engine back, though.

My buddy's 20' Shamrock has a removable well beneath the removable panel (behind the motor). That might be something to consider. Alternatively, maybe something in the center of the boat, forward of the engine compartment would work.

John,
Well, you do have some work ahead of you! Keep digging!!

The tank was mounted in the rear of the boat, above the floor. I am not a fan of that so that is why I am trying to find a way to mount two saddle tanks like you are decribing in the Shamrock. I found a really cool produce called Prisma Composite. The company is located in my area so I am meeting with them today at 9am EST. They make composite stringers, hull stiffeners, bulk heads and a ton of other stuff. They just started a line of products designed to be installed on already build vessels. If I can have them make me a 1 inch hull stiffener I will remove the secondary stringer and replace it with that. That will give me the room to put the saddle tank in.. I will keep you all informed when I get back from the meeting.

Cool boat! I look forward to seeing the progress.

Brktracer wrote: How's your shoulder?

Shoulder is better, Thanks for asking. I went to the Prisma Factory today and man is that a cool place. All composite stuff. I was amazed how cheap this stuff is. I will take some Pics of the samples they gave me and post them. I meet with the owner Scott and he explained all the ways I can redesign the boat. I think I may end up trashing the origanal deck and redesign my own with lots of storage.

Keeganino I think I am staying stock with the motor. It came with a 351 Windsor. The only mod I might do to the motor is change it to a fresh water cooled. I picked up a new used 351 with raw water so it really depends on the budget if I add the fresh water system.

Man, I hate digging foam.....

Cool project, looking forward to following this.

Here is the new floor paln I am thinking of going with. What is everyones take on putting the gas tank forward of the motor area. There is a big emply space there that will allow me about 120gals of fuel. I think the saddle tanks are a no go as they would have to be the lengh of the boat in order to get the capicty I wanted.

Yeah I thought that but everyone tells me how bow light the boat was.... Wish I could call someone and get there take on it..

So what are your suggestions? Would trim tabs help? or is it just better to make saddles? Saddles I think will be way to long for it to be practical

Have had a lot of experiance with fish Nautiques.
Looked at your battle plan and putting the tank forward will not be a problem provided you have enough motor to push the hull. I would though install the fuel tank length wise between the main stringers rather than on top of the stringers. Have one custom built for the boat at around 40 gal.
We have a fish that is stripped and getting ready to un-cap the deck and pull the liner. I am thinking of replacing my tank and installing saddle tanks on each side of the motor like a Shamrock. Also a BBC 454 along with a 1.23-1 Power plus transmission is going back in.

Fl Inboards wrote: Have had a lot of experiance with fish Nautiques. Looked at your battle plan and putting the tank forward will not be a problem provided you have enough motor to push the hull. I would though install the fuel tank length wise between the main stringers rather than on top of the stringers. Have one custom built for the boat at around 40 gal. We have a fish that is stripped and getting ready to un-cap the deck and pull the liner. I am thinking of replacing my tank and installing saddle tanks on each side of the motor like a Shamrock. Also a BBC 454 along with a 1.23-1 Power plus transmission is going back in.

Do you think 40 Gals is enough??? I need at least a 200 mile range and I don't think 40 gals will give me that. Fl inboards I would love to chat with you about the layout I am wating to use. If possible email me your contact info or I will emai you mine. I plan on useing the stock 351 with a 1:1 trans.

As for the glass tank, I never asked them. I will though he might have a suggestion.

jzarski wrote: Fl Inboards wrote: Have had a lot of experiance with fish Nautiques. Looked at your battle plan and putting the tank forward will not be a problem provided you have enough motor to push the hull. I would though install the fuel tank length wise between the main stringers rather than on top of the stringers. Have one custom built for the boat at around 40 gal. We have a fish that is stripped and getting ready to un-cap the deck and pull the liner. I am thinking of replacing my tank and installing saddle tanks on each side of the motor like a Shamrock. Also a BBC 454 along with a 1.23-1 Power plus transmission is going back in. Do you think 40 Gals is enough??? I need at least a 200 mile range and I don't think 40 gals will give me that. Fl inboards I would love to chat with you about the layout I am wating to use. If possible email me your contact info or I will emai you mine. I plan on useing the stock 351 with a 1:1 trans. As for the glass tank, I never asked them. I will though he might have a suggestion.

John,
Talk to Jodi. He would be a good one to get some first hand info from!!

As for the glass tank, I never asked them. I will though he might have a suggestion.

Old school ideas!! Definatly would go with a aluminum tank or tanks!
cruising speed is around 32-35 mph in that boat utilizing 12-15 gal per hour (est).
40 gal is about what came in them maybe closer to 60??? anyway if that is the type of range you are looking for then you would want closer to 80 gal capacity I think then you also might want to think about saddle tanks. or put one up front and retain the rear.