How to Install a Gas Deck Fill in a Boat

Deck-level gas fills are a luxury that can keep you or your passengers from tripping over a raised fill on a slick-and-rocking deck. Their installation can be done without retreating into the engine room. While the initial work doesn't require a great investment in time or effort, the whole project takes a week, minimum, because you must make the joint between the deck and the fuel fill watertight, the same as you do with other deck hardware.

Things You'll Need

  • Flathead screwdriver
  • Small pry bar
  • China marker
  • Drill
  • 3/8-inch bit
  • Masking tape
  • Adhesive marine caulk
  • Plastic spreader
  • Razor knife
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Instructions

  1. Remove the Old Fixture

    • 1

      Go to the current fuel fill on the main deck. Remove the screws around the fuel fill using a flat-head screwdriver. Work a small pry bar beneath the fuel fill, to break the caulking around and beneath it, and pull it upward, along with the fuel hose. The hose will pull from the deck penetration to allow you access to the hose clamp at the joint of the filler and the hose.

    • 2

      Loosen the hose clamp -- at the top of the filler hose from the deck to the tank -- that holds the fuel filler hose and the current fuel filler together, using the screwdriver. Slide the hose clamp backward onto the filler hose.

    • 3

      Twist the fuel filler in the hose as you pull the filler from the end of the hose. Push the pipe of the new, flat, deck fuel fill into the hose. Slide the hose clamp back up the fuel hose, so it is over both hose and filler pipe. Tighten the clamp securely.

    • 4

      Lower the fuel filler into the deck. Trace around the filler and mark its mounting hole locations with a china marker. Lift the filler again and drill pilot holes with a drill and a 3/8-inch bit -- if new mounting holes are needed; they may not be -- at the positions marked. Apply a copious amount of masking tape around the outline of the filler that's traced on the deck.

    • 5

      Spread a layer of adhesive marine caulk about 1/4-inch thick on the deck between the filler penetration and the edge of the masking tape using a plastic spreader. Don't press the fuel filler into this bedding compound but do secure the filler in place with its mounting screws barely snug.

    • 6

      Wait a week. Tighten the screws snugly. Pull up the masking tape. Trim around the deck fuel fill with a razor knife to remove any errant caulking.