Active Active   Unanswered Unanswered

fuel tank dipstick

Bronze, stainless, chrome or steel. If you need information about the non-wood items on your Chris-Craft, pose your questions here.

Moderators: Don Ayers, Al Benton, Don Vogt

mtwinrivers
Posts: 2
Joined: Wed Jun 17, 2009 7:22 am
Contact:

fuel tank dipstick

Post by mtwinrivers » Wed Jun 17, 2009 7:38 am

Got this membership for my dad - who just got old chris craft in water after 2 years of restoration. I am looking for a fuel tank dip stick??? I know nothing about this - can you tell for him. Is there a proper name for this, as I have had no luck searching internet or does anyone know a source to buy one or maybe get specs to have one fabricated? Thanks in advance.

User avatar
Shangri La
Posts: 18
Joined: Sat Dec 29, 2007 10:25 am
Location: Oconto, WI
Contact:

Post by Shangri La » Wed Jun 17, 2009 7:52 am

I made mine out of a 1"x1"x6' that I bought at the lumber store. I mark the inches on the stick then I go to a chart that I made to check how many gallons I have in the tank. I made my chart from the tank mesurments that I calculated at http://www.greertank.com/tankcalc.htm
Cap'n Kenny
m/v Shangri-La
1960 35' Chris-Craft Roamer
www.owfish.com

Take Time
Posts: 173
Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2007 10:48 pm
Contact:

Post by Take Time » Wed Jun 17, 2009 10:37 pm

A 1/2" round wood dowel also works good. It will bend going through the filler neck. Fill the tank up, that will be your full mark. Make your half and quarter marks accordingly. Sounds Buba, but it works.

Rob

User avatar
57 chris
Posts: 861
Joined: Sat Jan 05, 2008 2:43 pm
Location: Churchville, NY
Contact:

Post by 57 chris » Mon Jun 22, 2009 6:16 am

I was fortunate enough to have the original come with my boat, it even had the hull # stamped into it. It was in tough shape so I used it as a pattern to replicate a new one and I put the old one away in the archives.
It was simple enough to make, it's a piece of mahogany about 1/4" thick X 1" wide with four lines on it with the legends stamped into the wood; "1/4", "1/2", "3/4" and "full".
If you're interested in originality you can make one like this, otherwise any piece of wood will do.

Craig

Image

Image
Last edited by 57 chris on Mon Jun 22, 2009 2:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
1957 18' SeaSkiff #SK 18675 "Knot Sure!"
1958 18' SeaSkiff #SK18722 "Wreckreation"

Past projects: 1972 19' Lancer with 307 Volvo drive-Great Blue, 1968 23' Lancer Offshore with 283 Volvo drive-Narwahl
1988 FourWinns 245 Vista - Blue Ayes.

It's good to have wood!

User avatar
ssnider
Posts: 96
Joined: Tue Oct 14, 2008 7:12 pm
Location: Seattle, WA
Contact:

Post by ssnider » Mon Jun 22, 2009 12:14 pm

Craig - Did your Chris come from the factory with a mechanical fuel gauge? If it did I guess the dip stick was a sign of their faith in their mechanical fuel gauge.

When I bought my Super Sport the fuel gauge was broken and just filled her up often but when I took all the seats out last winter I found a dowel with the 1/4, 1/2 3/4 and full markings on it but no hull number. Not sure if I will go thru the trouble to get the gauge fixed since that seems to be one thing on a boat that is never accurate.

- Steve

User avatar
57 chris
Posts: 861
Joined: Sat Jan 05, 2008 2:43 pm
Location: Churchville, NY
Contact:

Post by 57 chris » Mon Jun 22, 2009 2:02 pm

Hi Steve,
Being the lower priced spread so to speak, the SeaSkiffs didn't have fuel gauges. As far as I know they weren't even available as an option from the factory (I'll check on that and let you know). So if you see a 'Skiff with a gauge it was either added by the dealer or by the owner.
Anyway, I'm with you. I don't trust gauges, I know for sure what's in the tank when I take that stick out.
1957 18' SeaSkiff #SK 18675 "Knot Sure!"
1958 18' SeaSkiff #SK18722 "Wreckreation"

Past projects: 1972 19' Lancer with 307 Volvo drive-Great Blue, 1968 23' Lancer Offshore with 283 Volvo drive-Narwahl
1988 FourWinns 245 Vista - Blue Ayes.

It's good to have wood!

User avatar
Al Benton
Club Executive Team
Posts: 3549
Joined: Thu Oct 27, 2005 3:41 pm
Location: St. Louis, MO

Post by Al Benton » Mon Jun 22, 2009 11:46 pm

The original dipstick for mine is octoganal shaped mahogany. What doesn't make sinse is the marks (notches) aren't at all accurate. The full notch is about even with the height of the tank vent and that's about half way up in the fill tube. The 3/4 notch actually indicates the tanks sre full (less the fill tube).

Al

User avatar
qukalake
Posts: 109
Joined: Thu Feb 07, 2008 7:41 am
Location: Penn Yan, NY
Contact:

Post by qukalake » Tue Jun 23, 2009 12:10 am

Craig, hello. Are the four sections of your gas stick the same size, as it appears in the pic? As I am sure you know, to divide a cylinder, half is indeed half, but 1/4 and 3/4 should be closer to 'half' than to "empty" and "full", when marked on a stick. Of course, the real important one is the 1/4 mark. Just curious....
Dennis

1956 C~C Holiday
Good manners,
a gift you give yourself

User avatar
57 chris
Posts: 861
Joined: Sat Jan 05, 2008 2:43 pm
Location: Churchville, NY
Contact:

Post by 57 chris » Tue Jun 23, 2009 7:12 am

Hi Dennis,
No the 1/4 mark is closer to the 1/2 mark than the bottom and the 3/4 mark is closer to the 1/2 mark than to the top. The deviation isn't much but there is a difference.

Craig
1957 18' SeaSkiff #SK 18675 "Knot Sure!"
1958 18' SeaSkiff #SK18722 "Wreckreation"

Past projects: 1972 19' Lancer with 307 Volvo drive-Great Blue, 1968 23' Lancer Offshore with 283 Volvo drive-Narwahl
1988 FourWinns 245 Vista - Blue Ayes.

It's good to have wood!

User avatar
qukalake
Posts: 109
Joined: Thu Feb 07, 2008 7:41 am
Location: Penn Yan, NY
Contact:

Post by qukalake » Tue Jun 23, 2009 7:31 am

Yup! I think we said the same thing. :wink:
I have a 20 gallon, and it is a fair amount of difference on my stick. I started empty, added five and marked, added five and marked, and so on. Not smart enough to do it with math!
Dennis

1956 C~C Holiday
Good manners,
a gift you give yourself

User avatar
NSJA
Posts: 156
Joined: Sun Sep 28, 2008 3:45 pm
Location: Orinda CA
Contact:

Post by NSJA » Tue Jun 23, 2009 9:24 am

Craig/Dennis,

It's all based on the proportions of your tank; length and diameter if cylindrical. If you go to: www.greertank.com/tankcalc.htm, as Shangri La suggests, there is a calculator that will give you one inch markings and their corresponding gallons of fuel.

It makes the math really simple. I made a measuring stick from 3/8" wood dowel yesterday.

NSJA

User avatar
Don Vogt
Club Executive Team
Posts: 919
Joined: Mon Jan 01, 2007 4:51 pm
Location: seattle, wa

Post by Don Vogt » Wed Jun 24, 2009 6:45 am

There is a whole thread on this that occurred about a year or so ago in the buzz, with a series of pictures and calculations as to marks, etc. A pretty definitive discussion of the gas measuring stick.

User avatar
qukalake
Posts: 109
Joined: Thu Feb 07, 2008 7:41 am
Location: Penn Yan, NY
Contact:

fuel tank

Post by qukalake » Wed Jun 24, 2009 7:37 am

Guys, clearly we all have too much time on our hands. This is not brain surgery, or is it? Simple and foolproof, find out the size and shape of your tank, make it empty, add two gallons and mark on the stick "GET GAS NOW" This is the only real important mark anyway.
Dennis

1956 C~C Holiday
Good manners,
a gift you give yourself

User avatar
57 chris
Posts: 861
Joined: Sat Jan 05, 2008 2:43 pm
Location: Churchville, NY
Contact:

Post by 57 chris » Wed Jun 24, 2009 8:06 am

Right you are Dennis, it's a drag walking to the closest gas station if you run out.
1957 18' SeaSkiff #SK 18675 "Knot Sure!"
1958 18' SeaSkiff #SK18722 "Wreckreation"

Past projects: 1972 19' Lancer with 307 Volvo drive-Great Blue, 1968 23' Lancer Offshore with 283 Volvo drive-Narwahl
1988 FourWinns 245 Vista - Blue Ayes.

It's good to have wood!

User avatar
Al Benton
Club Executive Team
Posts: 3549
Joined: Thu Oct 27, 2005 3:41 pm
Location: St. Louis, MO

Post by Al Benton » Wed Jun 24, 2009 10:59 am

Especially if you're on an island in the middle of the lake.

The marks (notches) on my stick really don't mean too mutch until only the last three or four inches of it gets wet. A cylinder on its side doesn't have much left in it with those measurements.

Al

User avatar
Chad Durren
Posts: 666
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2006 1:39 pm
Location: Chicago, Illinois
Contact:

Post by Chad Durren » Wed Jun 24, 2009 11:32 am

Here's a shot of my original fuel stick next to a tape. The measurements are accurate for a 20 gal tank.
Image
1952 CC 18' Sportsman
1969 CC 19' Commander Super Sport

davige
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Aug 05, 2009 8:11 am
Contact:

17' Ski Boat Dipstick

Post by davige » Wed Sep 09, 2009 10:07 am

I found out the hard way how to make an accurate dipstick for my 1960 17' CC Ski Boat. I ran out of gas in the middle of a lake. It seems that my fuel gauge has 2 positions, full & empty. I got a 1/2" dowel and gradually filled up, marking the stick at intervals. My spec 20gal tank is really only 18gal. Trying to squeeze in 19 hit the overflow vent. Here are the measurements:
3" = 2.5gal
4" = 5gal
6.5" = 10gal
9" = 15gal
11.5" = 18gal
It's pretty close to the picture in the post above. Hope this is helpful to someone.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 9 guests