Progress on Tank Covers

Got back to work on the tank covers this week. It turns out that the access covers and ports are a lot more complicated than I thought. The next step is to make and install the stud plates to hold the studs which will hold the covers on.



I made the plates using 1/4" Aluminum plate. I drilled and tapped hole for the 1/4-20 Stainless Steel bolts. It turns out there are 144 bolts in all.
I threaded the bolts in with an impact driver and Lock Tight so they will not work loose when I am removing the covers.

Here you see two of the openings with the Stud Plates in place. I drilled the holes all the way though the top and the cover plate so hopefully the studs would line up with the holes in the covers. Easier said than done. I ended up having to clamp the covers in place then drill one set of holes, fit the studs in and bolt the cover on. Then I could remove the clamps and drill the holes for the other two plates. Then I could glue those two in place and bolt them up. The last step was the remove the first two plates and then glue them back in.

Here is one of the tops with all the studs in place.











The last step is to glass the stud plates in place so that the aluminum bars and studs are encased in glass on the underside of the top which will be inside of the tank. I used a single layer of 24oz, Biax tape which I cut so it could wrap from the underside up though the port and finish on the top side. I actually started by wetting the tape out on the tops side, then installed the cover again with a layer of wax paper in between, Then I flipped the top over and finished the glass work on the underside.

This is what the finished port looks like on the underside of the top. Everything is sealed in. The last step is to paint the underside with the Epoxy tank coating paint.

The finished port cover looks like this. It too will be painted with the white epoxy paint.
Onward, I only have 11 more .....