We’ve had good news and bad news this week. The good news was that there was no corrosion or damage beyond what we knew about or expected. In particular, the hull and sealed hull compartments were corrosion free. The bad news was that the internal fuel tank was at the end of its life, and just starting to weep fuel into the bilge.
The result is that we’re have a new fuel tank built. The capacity (about 260 litres) will be a little smaller than the existing tank (about 375 litres). This will allow the tank to be more easily accessed and removed for inspection and repair in the future and create new storage space for race management equipment.
The difference in fuel capacity will be made up with two 45 litre tote tanks which will allow each motor to be fed independently from the internal fuel tank if required. This will provide valuable redundancy should the internal fuel tank be run dry or become contaminated.
The corrosion repairs should be finished this week, and she will be painted this weekend She should be ready for wiring and engine installation early-next week.
We hope to have Te Ruru back for opening day, but we can’t guarantee that yet.